Naqshbandi Haqqani

The Grandmaster, Grandshaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani, is the Spiritual Leader of the blessed Naqshbandi Sufi order of the Sufis (tariqah an-Naqshbandiyya-t-il-‘awliya). He is now the King of the Saints, the appointed Sultan ul-Awliya, the 40th Grandmaster the Sultan of the Naqshbandi Tariqat, and the last Grandshaykh before the arrival of the
Imam Mahdi(a.s) and Isa(a.s), Jesus son of Mary. During every age there is a Saint responsible for all this Lights.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

SHARH ASMA' AL-NABI ,EXPLANATION OF THE NAMES OF THE PROPHET

SHARH ASMA' AL-NABI, EXPLANATION OF THE NAMES OF THE PROPHET ,
By Shaykh Gibril Haddad

This is the explanation of the Names of the Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him, as set forth by Shaykh al-Islam, the last of the major hadith masters, al-hafiz, Sayyidi Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911) in his book al-Riyad al-aniqa fi sharh asma' khayr al-khaliqa sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam

Suyuti says: It is my hope that Allah accept this book and that through this book I will gain the Messenger's intercession. Perhaps it shall be that Allah make it the seal of all my works, and grant me what I have asked Him with longing regarding the Honorable One. I have named it "The beautiful gardens: Explanation of the names of the Best of Creation."

One of the commentaries notes that the scholars have said that the multitude of names points to the greatness of the named and his loftiness of rank, because it supposes great care and importance. That is why among the Arabs you will see that the objects with the most names are those who commend the greatest endeavor and effort.

Some have said: The Prophet has ninety-nine names, like the Beautiful Names of Allah. Ibn Dihya, however, avered three hundred names. Imam Abu Bakr Ibn al-`Arabi in his commentary on Tirmidhi (`Aridat al-ahwadhi 10:281) mentions one thousand names, some being mentioned in the Qur'an and hadith while others are found in the ancient books. I say: Some of his names came to us in the form of a verb or a verbal noun, and a large number of the scholars including al- Qadi `Iyad and Ibn Dihya include those among the names. This is what the large majority of the scholars, especially those of hadith, have done with regard to Allah's names.

As for the Prophet's saying: "I have five names..." (Bukhari and Muslim):
It does not contradict the fact that he has more than that, because it is one of the rules of the principles (qawa`id al-usul) that the number is not understood exclusively (al-`adadu la yukhassas). How many hadiths have mentioned numbers which are not meant to convey exclusivity, for example: "Seven will enjoy the shade of Allah's Throne" (Bukhari),
while other hadiths mention more than that; I have about seventy or more among the more famous ones.

I also consider that the wording "five" needs investigation, and if it is established, then perhaps it comes from the nearest narrator, because most of the narrations have: "I have (many) names" (inna li asma'), and some of the narrations also mention six instead of five, while Jubayr's narration mentions more than that. Ibn `Asakir addressed this in his
Mubhimat al- Qur'an and said: It is both possible that the mention of the number is not from the Prophet's wording, or that it is from him, in any case this does not necessitate a limit. These five were mentioned specifically either because of the listener's prior knowledge of the other names as if the Prophet were saying: "I have five particularly meritorious and glorious names" or because of the fame of these five names as if the Prophet were saying: "I have five particularly famous names" of for some other reason. (End of Ibn `Asakir's words.)

Here now are the hadiths which number his names. We have:
1- The hadith of Jubayr ibn Mut`im
2- The hadith of Jabir ibn `Abd Allah
3- The hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash`ari
4- The hadith of Hudhayfa
5- The hadith of Ibn Mas`ud
6- The hadith of Ibn `Abbas
7- The hadith of Abu al-Tufayl
8- The hadith of `Awf ibn Malik.

1. The hadith of Jubayr ibn Mut`im
His son Muhammad narrated it from him as well as Nafi`, and al- Zuhri took it from Muhammad, and thence a large number of narrators, among them: Sufyan al-Thawri, Shu`ayb, Mu`ammar, Malik, Muhammad ibn Maysara, and others. [It is found in Ahmad (4:80), Tirmidhi's Sunan (`Aridat al-ahwadhi 10:280), and Tirmidhi's Shama'il (p. 183). Also Muslim from Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Hanzali and others.]

al-Suyuti narrates with his isnad that the Prophet said: I have (many) names. I am The Praised One (muhammad). And I am the Most Deserving of Praise (ahmad). And I am the Eraser (al-mahi) by whom disbelief is erased. And I am the Gatherer (al-hashir) at whose feet the people shall be gathered. And I am the Concluder (al-`aqib) after whom
there is no Prophet.

Bukhari in his Sahih and Malik in his Muwatta' narrate it from Mu`ammar without the words "after whom there is no Prophet." This is the last hadith in the Muwatta'. al-Darimi in his Sunan cites it from al-Shu`ayb with the words "after whom there is no-one." Bukhari's version adds: Mu`ammar said: I asked al-Zuhri: "What is al-`aqib?" He replied: "The one after whom there is no Prophet."

al-Bayhaqi in Dala'il al-nubuwwa (1:123) narrates it from Muhammad ibn Maysara with the final words: And I am the Concluder (al-`aqib), that is: the Sealer. Ahmad in his Musnad (4:80) and Bayhaqi in the Dala'il (1:124-125) also narrate it with the mere mention of the names without gloss, and with the addition of a sixth name: I have (many) names. I am The Praised One (muhammad). And I am the Most Deserving of Praise (ahmad), and the Gatherer (al-hashir), and the Eraser (al-mahi), and the Sealer (al-khatim), and the Concluder
(al-`aqib). As can be seen the Prophet has listed his names above as six, and this indicates that the mention of "five" is not from the Prophet, who only said: "names." Jubayr subsequently remembered whatever he remembered, or he mentioned [some of them] and kept some of them to himself.

2- The hadith of Jabir ibn `Abd Allah
It is like the hadith of Jubayr but without the mention of al-`aqib and with an addition so that it reads: I am the Most Deserving of Praise (ahmad). I am The Praised One
(muhammad). And I am the Gatherer (al- hashir) at whose feet the people shall be gathered. And I am the Eraser (al-mahi) by whom Allah erases disbelief. On the Day of Resurrection the Flag of Glorification will be with me and I shall be the leader of all the Messengers and the custodian of their intercession.

al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Jami` al-kabir and al-Jami` al-awsat. [al-Haythami said in Majma` al-zawa'id (8:248): "Its chain contains `Urwa ibn Marwan who was said not to be strong (laysa bi al-qawi i.e. he is merely acceptable), while the remainder of its narrators have been declared trustworthy."] Abu Nu`aym also narrated it in Dala'il al-nubuwwa from al-Tabarani with the wording: And I am the Gatherer (al-hashir) and the people will not be gathered anywhere else than at my feet.

3- The hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash`ari

al-Suyuti narrates with his isnad through Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi that the Prophet said:
I am The Praised One (muhammad), and the Most Deserving of Praise (ahmad), and the Final Successor (al-muqfi), and the Gatherer (al-hashir), and the Prophet of Repentence (nabi al-tawba), and the Prophet of Mercy (nabi al-rahma).

Muslim in his Sahih (book of Fada'il Chapter 34 hadith #126) and Abu Nu`aym narrated it in Hilyat al-awliya' (5:99). Ahmad in his Musnad (4:395) narrated it through Waki` thout "and the Prophet of Repentence," and throughYazid who retains it but replaces "the Prophet
of Mercy" with: "and of the Fierce Battle" (nabi al-malhama).

4- The hadith of Hudhayfa
al-Suyuti narrates with his isnad that Hudhayfa said: I met the Prophet in one of the streets of Madina and he said: I am The Praised One (muhammad). And I am the Most Deserving of Praise (ahmad). And I am the Prophet of Mercy (nabi al-rahma). And I am the Prophet of Repentence (nabi al-tawba). And I am the Final Successor (al-muqfi).
And I am the Gatherer (al- hashir) and the Prophet of the Great Battle (nabi al- malhama).

Suyuti said: Ahmad narrates it (Musnad 5:405) and the sub-narrators are all the men of sound hadith except `Asim ibn Bahdala ("He is thiqa trustworthy": Haythami in Majma` al- zawa'id 8:284), and the hadith is sound.

5- The hadith of Ibn Mas`ud
al-Suyuti narrates with his isnad that Ibn Mas`ud said: I heard the Prophet say in one of the streets of Madina: I am The Praised One (muhammad), and the Most Deserving of Praise (ahmad), and the Gatherer (al- hashir), and the Final Successor (al-muqfi), and the
Prophet of Mercy (nabi al-rahma). Ibn Hibban narrated it in his Sahih, and al-Haythami cited it in Mawarid al-zham'an (#2090).

6- The hadith of Ibn `Abbas
al-Suyuti narrates with his isnad through al-Tabarani that the Prophet said: I am the Most Deserving of Praise (ahmad), and the Praised One (muhammad), and the Gatherer (al- hashir), and the Final Successor (al-muqfi), and the Sealer (al-khatim). al-Tabarani said in his Saghir (1:58) that this hadith is not related from Ibn `Abbas through any other chain, and Suyuti adds that the chain is missing a link through al-Dahhak and Ibn `Abbas. [However, Ahmad Shakir, the late editor of Musnad Ahmad says in that book (4:67) that
Abu Janab al-Kalbi narrates from al-Dahhak:: "I was Ibn `Abbas's neighbor for seven years." al-Haythami mentions the hadith in Majma` al-zawa'id but does not say anything about it.]

7- The hadith of Abu al-Tufayl

[This is the Companion `Amir ibn Wathila ibn `Abd Allah al-Bakri al-Laythi (d. 110). He related the hadith found in Muslim, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Majah in their books of Manasik whereby the Prophet would touch the Black Stone with his camel-prod (mihjan) -- while circumambulating on top of his mount and then kiss it.] al-Suyuti narrates with his isnad, having heard this from Muhammad ibn Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili and Abu Hurayra `Abd al-Rahman ibn Abu al- Hasan al-Shadhili and others:

... From Isma`il Abu Yahya al-Taymi, from Sayf ibn Wahb who said: I heard Abu al-Tufayl say: The Prophet said: "I have ten names in the presence of my Lord." Abu al- Tufayl said: I only remember eight, and have forgotten two: "I am The Praised One (muhammad), and the Most Deserving of Praise (ahmad), and the Opener (al-fatih), and the Sealer (al-khatim), and the Father of Qasim (abu al-qasim), and the Gatherer (al-hashir), and the Concluder (al-`aqib), and the Eraser (al-mahi).

Sayf ibn Wahb said: "I related this hadith to Abu Ja`far and he said: "O Sayf al-Mulla! Shall I tell you the two missing names?" I said yes, and he said: Ya Sîn and Ta Ha.
Ibn Mardawayh in his Tafsir, Abu Nu`aym in his Dala'il, and al-Daylami in Musnad al-firdaws all cited it with their chains through Abu Yahya al-Taymi. Ibn Dihya said: "This is a worthless chain, as it revolves around a forger Yahya al-Taymi and a weak narrator Sayf ibn Wahb."

[al-Zabidi cited it in his Ithaf al-sadat al-muttaqin (7:163). He mentions that Ibn Dihya cited it also in his al-Mustawfa, and that Yahya or Ibn Yahya or Abu Yahya) al-Taymi is a forger while Ahmad said that Sayf ibn Wahb is weak.]

8- The hadith of `Awf ibn Malik

Suyuti narrates with his isnad back to Abu Nu`aym that `Awf ibn Malik said: One day the Prophet set forth and I was with him. He entered the synagogue of the Jews during their festival day and they disliked it intensely that we should visit them. The Prophet then said: "O nation of the Jews! By Allah, in truth I am the Gatherer (al-hashir), and I am
the Concluder (al-`aqib), and I am the Final Successor (al- muqfi), whether you believe or give the lie." Then he left and I left with him.

[2] THE NAMES OF THE PROPHET THAT HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED

Suyuti said in al-Riyad al-aniqa: al-Nawawi said in his Tahdhib al-asma' wa al-sifat (The emendation of the Names and Attributes): Most of the Prophet's names mentioned are only attributes, such as the Concluder (al-`aqib), the Gatherer (al-hashir), and the Sealer
(al-khatim). To call them "names" is a metaphorical apellation.

We have established a list of three hundred and forty-odd names divided among sections (commentary and referencing of each name follows the list):

O Allah, O our Lord! for the honor of Your elect Prophet and Pleasing Messenger before You, purify our hearts from all the traits that keep us away from Your presence and Your love, and have us pass away following his Way and adhering to his Congregation, longing to meet You, O Possessor of Majesty and Generosity! And the blessings and abundant greetings and peace of Allah be upon our master and liege-lord Muhammad, and upon his Family and Companions.

Amin. [5]
The following are found mostly in the Book of Merits (manaqib) in Tirmidhi's Sunan:

1- Sayyidina `Ali said: "The Prophet was neither tall nor short. He has thick-set fingers and toes. He had a large head and joints. He had a long line of thin chest-to-lower-navel hair. When he walked he would literally lean forward, as if descending from a higher place to a lower one. I never saw anyone like him before of after him." Tirmidhi said: This hadith is hasan sahih. Imam Ahmad in his narration states: "He was large of head and beard."

2- Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, one of Sayyidina `Ali's grandchildren, said: `Ali would say upon describing the Prophet: "He was neither immoderately tall nor particularly short. He was well-proportioned among people. His hair was neither extremely curly nor straight, but slightly waved. He was neither stocky nor plump. There was roundness in his face. He was
fair with redness in his complexion. His eyes were very black and his eyelashes very long. He had a large back and shoulder-joints. His body was not hairy but he had a line of
hair extending from the chest to below the navel. He had thick-set fingers and toes. When he walked he would lift his feet with vigor, as if walking down a slope. When he turned towards a person he would turn with his entire body. Between his shoulder- blades was the seal of prophethood, and he himself is the Seal of Prophets. He was the most generous of people without exception, the most accepting and gracious of manners, the most truthful
in speech, the softest of voice, and the noblest of company. Whoever saw him from a distance stood awed by him, and whoever shared familiarity with him loved him. Whoever described him said: I never saw anyone like him before or after him." Tirmidhi said: This hadith is hasan gharib and its chain is not linked back (to `Ali).

3- Hasan ibn `Ali said: I queried my maternal uncle Hind ibn Abi Hala, who was skilled at describing the Prophet's appearance, and told him that I longed to hear him describe me something of it to which I could hold on. He said: "The Prophet was magnificent and he was considered magnificent. His face shone pearl-like, similar to the full moon. He was
taller than average, but smaller than a tall man. He had a large head. His hair was wavy. If it parted naturally he parted it, otherwise not. It reached past his ear- lobes when he wore it long. He had a rosy complexion, a wide forehead, beautifully arched, dense
eyebrows that did not meet in the middle. Between them there was a vein which thickened when he was angry. He had an aquiline nose touched with a light that raised it so that at first sight it seemed higher than it was. He had a thick, dense beard, expanded, not elevated cheeks, a strong mouth with a gap between his front teeth.

There was sparse hair on his chest. His neck seemed (smooth and shiny) like that of a statue moulded in silver. His body was well-proportioned, stout and muscular, of equal belly and chest. He was wide-shouldered, big- jointed. When he disrobed his limbs emanated light. There was a thread-like line of hair between his chest and his navel, but none on his breasts and belly other than that. There was hair on his arms, shoulders, and upper torso.His forearms were long, his palms wide, his fingers and toes thick-set and extended. The middle of his soles rose moderately from the ground. His feet were so smooth that water rolled off them. When he walked he lifted his feet with vigor, leaned slightly forward, and tread gently on the ground. When he turned (to look), he turned his whole body. His gaze was lowered and he looked at the ground more often than he looked at the sky. He glanced at things rather than stared. He would ask his Companions to walk in front of him. He would always be the first to greet those he met with salam." Tirmidhi narrated it in his Shama'il but not in the Sunan.

4- Sammak ibn Harb narrated to Shu`ba a hadith he had heard from Jabir ibn Samura and he explained that the Prophet had a wide mouth and wide eyes, and that he had not fleshy heels. Tirmidhi said it is hasan sahih.

5- Jabir ibn Samura also narrated that he once saw the Prophet on a night of full moon wearing a red mantle. He said: "I began to look at him then at the moon. Verily he seemed to me more beautiful than the moon itself." Tirmidhi said: This hadith is hasan gharib. Its chain contains al-Ash`ath, whom some declared weak, however, al- Dhahabi declared him "fair and truthful in his hadith" (hasan sadiq al-hadith).

6- al-Bara' ibn `Azib confirmed the above by relating: "I have never seen someone whose hair reached to his ear-lobes and wearing red clothing, more handsome than Allah's Messenger. His hair reached his shoulders. He was very broad-shouldered, neither short nor tall." Tirmidhi said: hasan sahih.

7- al-Bara' ibn `Azib was once asked: "Was the Prophet's face like a sword (i.e. glistening like steel, or elongated)?" He replied: "No; it was like the moon (i.e. shining with light, and round)." Tirmidhi said:hasan sahih.

9- Ibn `Abbas said: "The Prophet's two front teeth were slighly spaced in between. Whenever he spoke, something like light would be seen issuing from between them." Tirmidhi narrated it in his Shama'il but not in the Sunan.

10- Anas ibn Malik said: "Allah's Messenger was well-proportioned, neither tall nor short, handsome of body, and his hair was neither curly nor straight. He was of tawny complexion. When he walked, he leaned forward slightly." Tirmidhi related it in the Book of Clothing
(al-libas) and said it is hasan sahih.

11- Abu Hurayra said: "The Prophet was fair-skinned, as if he had been moulded in silver (i.e. completely unblemished, shining), and he had wavy hair." Tirmidhi narrated it in al-Shama'il but not in the Sunan.

12- Abu al-Tufayl, the last of the Companions to die, said: "I saw the Prophet and there is no one left on earth who saw him other than myself." Sa`id al-Jurayri said: "Describe him." He replied: "He was fair-skinned, handsome and engaging, and neither corpulent nor thin." Tirmidhi narrates it in his Shama'il but not in the Sunan.

[6] AL-QADI YUSUF AL-NABANAHI'S POEM OF PRAISE OF THE PROPHET, BLESSINGS AND PEACE UPON HIM

1. ana `abdun li sayyid al-anbiya'i wa wala'i lahu al-qadimi wala'i
I am the slave of the Master of Prophets And my fealty to him has no beginning.

During the reign of Sultan Salim III (1204-1222 AH) many tribulations took place. One was the tribulation of the Wahhabiyyah which started in the area of al-Hijaz(1) where they captured al-Haramayn(2), and prevented Muslims coming from ash-Sham(3) and Egypt from reaching their destination to perform Pilgrimage (Hajj). Another tribulation is that of the French who controlled Egypt from 1213 A.H. until 1216 A.H. Let us here speak briefly about the two adversities(4), because each was mentioned in detail in the books of history and in separate treatises.

Background On The Tribulations Of The Wahhabis

The fighting started between the Wahhabis and the Prince of Mecca, Mawlana Sharif Ghalib Ibn Bu Sa'id, who had been appointed by the honored Muslim Sultan as his ruling representative over the areas of al-Hijaz. This was in 1205 AH during the time of Sultan Salim III, the son of Sultan Mustafa III, the son of Ahmad. Previous to the outbreak of fighting, the Wahhabis began to build power and gain followers in their areas. As their territories expanded, their evil and harm increased They killed countless numbers of Muslims, legitimated confiscating their money and possessions, and captured their women. The founder of their wicked doctrine was Muhammad Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab, who originated from eastern Arabia, from the tribe of Banu Tamim. He lived a long life, about one-hundred years. He was born in 1111 AH and died in 1200 AH. His history was narrated as follows:
Muhammad Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab started as a student of knowledge in the city of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam: Medina al-Munawwarah. Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab's father was a good, pious man among the people of knowledge as was his brother, Shaykh Sulayman. His father, his brother, and his shaykhs (teachers of religion) had the foresight Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab would innovate a great deal of deviation and misguidance, because of their observance of his sayings, actions, and inclinations concerning many issues. They used to reprimand him and warn people against him.

Some Of The Beliefs Of Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab

What Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab's father, brother, and shaykhs speculated about him came true-by the Will of Allah, Ta'ala. Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab innovated deviant and misleading ways and beliefs and managed to allure some ignorant people to follow him. His deviant and misleading ways and beliefs disagreed with the sayings of the scholars of the Religion. His deviant beliefs led him to label the believers as blasphemers! He falsely claimed visiting the grave of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, and performing the tawassul(5) by him as shirk(6). Additionally, he falsely claimed visiting the graves of other prophets and righteous Muslims (awliya') and performing tawassul by them was shirk as well. He added to this by saying, "To call upon the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, when performing tawassul by the Prophet is shirk." He passed the same judgment of shirk on the ones who call upon other prophets and righteous Muslims (awliya') in performing tawassul by them.

In an effort to give credibility to his innovations Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab embellished his sayings by quotations which he selected from Islamic sources, i.e., quotations which are used as proofs for many issues but not the issues which Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab was attempting to support. He brought false statements and tried to beautify them for the laymen until they followed him. He wrote treatises for them until they believed that most
of the People of Tawhid(7) were blasphemers.

Alliance With The Saudi Family

Moreover, Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab called upon the princes of eastern Arabia and the people of ad-Dar'iyyah(8) to support him. They carried his doctrine and made this endeavor a means to strengthen and expand their kingdom. They worked together to suppress the Bedouins of the deserts until they overcame them and those Bedouins followed them and became foot-soldiers for them without pay. After that, these masses started to believe that whoever does not believe in what Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab said is a blasphemer, and it is Islamically lawful (halal) to shed his blood and plunder his money.

The matter of Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab started to evidence itself in 1143 A.H. and began spreading after 1150 A.H. Subsequently, the scholars--even his brother, Shaykh Sulayman and the rest of his shaykhs-- authored many treatises to refute him. But Muhammad Ibn Su'ud, the Prince of ad-Dar'iyyah in eastern Arabia, supported him and worked to spread his ideology. Ibn Su'ud was from Banu Hanifah, the people of Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab(9). When Muhammad Ibn Su'ud died, his son 'Abdul-'Aziz Ibn Muhammad Ibn Su'ud took over the responsibility of fulfilling the vile task of spreading the Wahhabi beliefs.

Many of the shaykhs of Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab in Medina used to say, "He will be misguided, and he will misguide those for whom Allah willed the misguidance." Things took place as per the speculation of the scholars. Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab claimed his intention behind the madhhab he invented was "to purify the tawhid" and "repudiate the shirk." He also claimed people had been following the shirk for six-hundred years and he revived their Religion for them!!

The Methodology of Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab

Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab took the verses revealed to speak about the blasphemers and applied them to the Muslims. The following examples from the Qur'an illustrate this point. Allah, ta'ala, said in Surat al-Ahqaf, Ayah 5: Who is more astray than the one who performs supplication (du'a') to [worship] other than Allah; the one other than Allah he supplicates to will not answer his du'a'. Allah, ta'ala said in Surat Yunus, Ayah 106 :
Do not perform supplication (du'a') to [worship] other than Allah; the one other than Allah you supplicate to will not benefit you and will not harm you

The verses in the Qur'an similar to these ones are numerous. Muhammad Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab gravely misinterpreted the previously cited verses and said: "The Muslim who asks help from the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, other prophets, or the righteous people (salihun), or who calls or asks any of them for intercession is like those blasphemers mentioned in the Qur'an." According to the false claim of Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab, the Muslims who do these things are blasphemers.

He also considered visiting the grave of Prophet Muhammad and the graves of other prophets and righteous Muslims for blessings as blasphemy. Allah revealed Ayah 3 of Surat az-Zumar in reference to the mushrikun: Those who worship the idols said: "We do not worship them except to achieve a higher status from Allah Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab falsely stated: "Those who perform tawassul (asking Allah by the prophets, for example) are similar to those blasphemers mentioned in Surat az-Zumar, Ayah 3, who claim they do not worship the idols except to achieve a higher status from Allah." He said: "The blasphemers did not believe the idols create anything; they believed Allah is the Creator." He gave his version of proof from the Qur'an by citing Surat Luqman, Ayah 25 and Surat az-Zumar, Ayah 38, in which Allah said: If you ask them, `Who created the heavens and earth?' They will say, `Allah'. In Surat az-Zukhruf, Ayah 87, Allah said: If you ask them, `Who created them?' They will say,’Allah’. Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab falsely concluded from these verses that the Muslims who perform tawassul are similar to those blasphemers.

The Scholars refute Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab

In their writings to refute Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab's sayings, the scholars said his deduction was false. The believers did not consider the prophets or the awliya' as gods and they did not deem them partners to Allah. Instead, they correctly believe the prophets and awliya' are good slaves and creations of Allah, and they do not deserve to be worshipped.

The blasphemers intended in these verses believed their idols deserved Godhood. They exalted them as one would exalt his Creator, even though they believed the idols did not create the heavens and the earth. The believers, on the other hand, do not believe the prophets or righteous Muslims (awliya') deserve to be worshipped, nor do they deserve to be attributed with Godhood, nor do they exalt them as one would exalt God. They believe these people are good slaves of Allah, His beloved ones whom He chose, and by their blessings (barakah) Allah grants His mercy to His creation. Hence, when the slaves of Allah seek the blessings (barakah) of the prophets and righteous Muslims (awliya') they are seeking these blessings as a mercy from Allah.

There are many proofs and examples from the Qur'an and Sunnah about this basic belief of the Muslims. Muslims believe Allah is the Creator, the One Who grants benefit and inflicts harm, and the only One Who deserves to be worshipped. Muslims believe that no one other than Allah has the power to affect the creation. The prophets and righteous people do not create anything. They do not possess the power to bestow benefit or inflict harm on others, but Allah is the One Who bestows the mercy upon the slaves by the righteous Muslims' blessings.

Hence, the belief of the blasphemers, i.e., the belief their idols deserve to be worshipped and have Godhood, is what makes them fall into blasphemy. This saying of the blasphemers, as previously cited in Surat az-Zumar, Ayah 3, was said in an effort to justify their belief when they were disproved and shown idols do not deserve to be worshipped.

How can Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab and those who follow him find it permissible to equate the believers, who believed in tawhid, to those blasphemers, who believed in the Godhood of the idols? All the previously cited verses and the verses which are similar to them are specific to the blasphemers who associate partners with Allah--none of the believers are included.

Al-Bukhariyy narrated by the route of Ibn 'Umar, may Allah raise their ranks, that the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, described the Khawarij as those who took the verses revealed about the blasphemers and attributed them to the believers! In the narration by the route of Ibn 'Umar the Prophet said:

"What I fear most for my nation is a man who mis-explains the Qur'an and takes it out of context."

Proofs For Tawassul - The Permissibility of Asking Allah for things by some of His Creation.

If performing tawassul had been blasphemy, then the believers, i.e., the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, his Companions, and the Salaf and Khalaf of this nation would not have done it. Yet it is mentioned in the sahih hadith of the Prophet that the Prophet used to ask Allah by saying:

"O Allah, I ask You by the status of those who ask You.(10) "

Without doubt, this is tawassul. The Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, used to teach this supplication (du'a') to his Companions and order them to say it. This issue was expounded upon in different books and treatises refuting Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab.

There is a hadith related by al-Hakim that mentions after Adam ate from the tree, he performed tawassul by our Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. He did that, because he saw the name of the Prophet written on the 'Arsh, Adam said: "O Allah, by the dignity of this son [Muhammad], forgive this father [Adam]."

It was also related by Ibn Hibban, that upon the death of Fatimah Bint Asad, may Allah raise her rank, the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, with his own honorable hands, put her in her grave and said:

"O Allah, forgive my mother(11), Fatimah Binti Asad, and widen her place by the status of Your Prophet and the prophets who came before me. You are the most Merciful."

There is a hadith classified as sahih(12), that a blind man asked the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, to make a supplication (du'a') to Allah to return his sight. The Prophet ordered him to make ablution (wudu') and pray two rak'ahs and then say:

"O Allah, I ask You and direct myself to You by Your Prophet, Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad, I ask Allah by you to fulfill my need. O Allah, enable him to intercede for me."

The blind man did what the Prophet taught him to do(13) and Allah brought his sight back. Moreover, as related by at-Tabaraniyy, the tawassul made by the blind man was used by the Companions and Salaf after the death of the Prophet.

'Umar Ibn al-Khattab performed the tawassul by al-'Abbas (the uncle of the Prophet), may Allah reward their deeds, when he prayed the Salah of 'Istisqa'(14) with the people. There are other proofs mentioned in the books of the Islamic scholars but we will not recount them at length here.

The one who pursues the saying of the Companions and their followers will find a great deal of proof about the validity of calling the prophet by saying "O Muhammad" in his presence as well as in his absence and in his life as well as after his death. In fact, many texts include the phrase which means, "O Muhammad". Calling the name of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, is permissible. An example is the saying of the Companion, Bilal Ibn al-Harith, may Allah reward his deeds, when he went to the grave of the Prophet. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, ask Allah to send rain to your Nation." His saying contains this format(15).

Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Sulayman al-Kurdiyy(16) was among the authors who wrote refuting Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab. He was Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab's own shaykh. Among what he said is as follows:

O Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab, I advise you, for the sake of Allah, ta'ala, to hold your tongue regarding the Muslims. If you hear from anyone who asks for help from other than Allah that one has the power to effect things without the Will of Allah, then teach him the right thing about this issue, and show him the proofs which state no one other than Allah brings things from non-existence into existence. The one who rejects that is blasphemous. You have no right to label the majority of the Muslims as blasphemers(17) while you are deviant from the majority of the Muslims. In fact, it is more reasonable to consider the one who deviates from the majority of the Muslims as a blasphemer then to consider the Muslims as a nation as blasphemers--because the deviant one has followed a path other than the path of the believers. In Surat an-Nisa', Ayah 15, Allah said:

Whomever contends with the Messenger after the right path was exposed to him and follows other than the way of the believers, Allah will leave him to whatever he followed and put him in Hell (Jahannam)].

The Permissibility Of Visiting The Grave Of The Prophet

Visiting the grave of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, was performed by the Companions and the Salaf and Khalaf who came after them. Many hadiths cite the benefit of this deed and the scholars of Islam have written books about this matter(18).

Calling On Someone Other Than Allah

Among of what was mentioned concerning calling on someone other than Allah, whether that one is present, absent, dead or alive, is the saying of the Prophet:

"If the animal of anyone of you went out of control in the wilderness, then call: `O slaves of Allah, help me'", since there are slaves of Allah [i.e. the angels] who will
respond to him.

There is another hadith related by al-Bazzar in which the Prophet said:
" If one of you lost something or needs help while in an open land, then let him say:
"O slaves of Allah, help me."

Another narration says, "Rescue me, because Allah has created slaves whom you do not see." When traveling at nightfall the Prophet, sallallahu 'alyhi wa sallam, used to say:" O earth, my Lord and your Lord is Allah." When the Prophet visited the grave of Muslims, he used to say:"O people of the graves, peace be upon you."

In the Tashahhud in as-Salah the Muslim says: "O Prophet of Allah, may Allah protect you from infirmities, and have mercy and blessings on you."

There is no harm in calling on and performing tawassul by someone unless one believes that someone other than Allah actually creates things. Hence, as long as one believes that only Allah creates them, there is no harm in performing tawassul. Likewise, attributing a
certain doing to other than Allah does not harm unless one believes this doer actually creates. So once it is established the person does not believe the creating is for other than Allah then attributing a doing to other than Allah is understood in its proper context. When one says: "This medicine benefited me," or "This particular righteous Muslim benefited me," he is merely exposing the created reason of the benefit. These statements are also similar to when one says: "This food satisfied my hunger," or "This water quenched my thirst," or "This medicine cured me." When Muslims say such statements, they understand them in their proper context, i.e., food, water, and medicine are only reasons, and Allah is the Creator of their benefit.

The general proofs mentioned in this summary are enough to refute Ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab. The scholars of Islam have expounded on this issue in several treatises.

Footnote:
1. Al-Hijaz refers to the western part of Arabia which includes Mecca and Medina.
2. Al-Haramayn refers to Mecca and Medina.
3. Ash-Sham refers to the area that includes Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine.
4. Only the first adversity will be presented in this booklet.
5. Tawassul is asking Allah for goodness by a prophet, righteous believer, etc.
6. Shirk refers to associating partners to Allah.
7. The People of Tawhid refers to the Muslims.
8. Ad-Dar'iyyah is a region north of the city of Riyad, Saudi Arabia.
9. Musaylimah al-Kadhdhab was a blasphemous man who claimed the status of prophethood for himself after the death of Prophet Muhammad. He was killed by the Muslims during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, may Allah raise his rank.
10. 10.Ibn Majah and others related this hadith and the-Hafidh, Ibn Hajar, deemed it a strong hadith
11. The Prophet called her `my mother' out of likening her to his real mother.
12. Sixteen hafidhs of hadith classified this hadith as sahih, including at-Tirmidhiyy, at-Tabaraniyy, al-Bayhaqiyy, as-Subkiyy, among others.
13. It is clear in the narrations of this hadith, the blind man was not in the session of the Prophet when he did as the Prophet ordered him.
14. Salah of 'Istisqa' refers to performing a specific prayer which includes making supplication for rain.
15. Al-Bayhaqiyy related this hadith and classified it as Sahih.
16. Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Sulaym al-Kurdiyy was the one who wrote al-Hashiyah on the explanation of Ibn Hajar to the text of Bafadl.
17. It is mentioned in a hadith it is easier for the devil to trick the lonely person who is away from other Muslims. The Prophet, sallallahu al 'alayhi wa sallam, while encouraging the Muslims to perform the prayers in congregation said:"Moreover, the wolf will eat the lonely lamb."
18. Among these hadiths is the one related by ad-Daraqutniyy that the Prophet said: "On the Day of Judgment, I will intercede for the one who visits my grave with the good intention."

Love is the bond that bind hearts, the basis upon which to build. If love is the foundation, your building will withstand all earthquakes and storms; and you may build it as high and wide as you please without it being in danger.

Therefore, our Way is the Way of Love. Leave what is keeping you from following that Path
and turn to follow it with perseverance; follow this path, all the way to your destination...

'Islam does not advocate the use of force on others. Force yourself, that is the highest degree. Urge yourself on and do not wait until someone pushes or pulls you. Animals have to be moved, a human being can move himself

'She has taught all mankind to seek only obscurity in the sight of the world, not to desire recognition. The hankering for power and fame is the heaviest burden anyone can shoulder. I don't advise anyone to pursue fame: seek only to be forgotten in the Ocean of Unity of Allah Almighty.' -

I have a kind of heavy burden on my shoulders, may be from my physical health or my spirituality, that what is happening now on earth, it is not an every day thing that we are living in. Perhaps it is the heaviest period for mankind. Audhu bi-llahi mina shaitani rajim, Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim. Allah Almighty sent the Shariat, heavenly rules, but people now are not taking any care over heavenly rules. Those who deny them, they are going to be unbelievers, no faith with them. The Holy Quran mentions everything that has happened from the past times of nations. I just finished, Alhamdulillah, Khatm, and beginning from Sura Baqara.at the beginning of the Quran and I reached the holy verses about what happened to the Children of Israel. They were living with Sayidinna Musa (a.s.) and Allah Almighty was calling him to mount Sinai to give him the Taurah, so he left them. And they made a golden cow and worshipped it. Then, when Sayidinna Musa came back, they were very sorry and asked forgiveness from Allah Almighty for what they did. Then Allah Almighty ordered to them, (to) S.Musa and S.Haroun his brother, saying; 'I am not going to accept their Tauba, their repentance, until they are killed. If not killed, I am not accepting. They must pay for this biggest
sin. They should kill themselves, then I am forgiving them and giving them Paradise. If not, I am not accepting their Tauba, repentance'.

70,000 people who were worshipping that golden cow were killed. Then Allah Almighty accepted their Tauba , giving them His forgiveness and then blessing them, their souls.

Now(adays) people are not worshipping a cow, they are worshipping Shaitan. Every nation has a Shaitan: Turks, Arabs have so many, Russians, Germany had one, France had one, China, -everywhere, every country now has a Shaitan, following them, and never giving any respect to Allah Almighty. Therefore the penalty for Kufr, for denying Allah and refusing His heavenly rules, is to be killed. Therefore now coming such big wars that never happened before and after this war, because technology reached its last point, no more up. What they are using now is the last point of technology; and mankind was enabled to do this, and they make it. They prepared themselves, using technology only for killing people, by the order of Shaitan. Now it is going to be the last war that is called in holy Books, in our Holy Book, Merhamet Kubra, the biggest massacre of mankind, and in other holy Books it is called Armageddon, the last war. The whole world going to be cleaned from Shaitan and the satanic kingdom is going to be destroyed. When it is destroyed, the heavenly kingdom will be in act on earth. The heavenly kingdom is going to be built after this war; shaitan's kingdom is finishing and the divine kingdom is going to
be built, founded by Mehdi a.s.

After Mehdi a.s. will come the Antichrist, collecting those not yet coming into Islam and insisting on being unbelievers. They will run after the Antichrist., because he is going to tell them: 'I am your Lord, come with me.' Now people run through the streets.such people perhaps a thousand times more should reach the Antichrist, and he is going from East to West through the whole world, until Allah Almighty is sending
Sayidinna Isa a.s. to come down -that he is real Christ- that one is Antichrist-, he is coming and killing him and all his followers also taken away and killed.

For 40 years on earth there should be only believers, sincere people, not running after Dunya, not following satanic teachings, they should be for Allah day and night and their nights much more bright with their Dhikr; their importance is only to worship. - 40years. When that finishes, going to start to appear from here and there Kufr; and unbelievers are
going to appear one after one after one, and years going in such a way. Then Isa (a.s) will go to Medina Munawwara, to the Prophet's tomb. There is behind the Prophets tomb, one for Abu Bakr and then behind, one for S.Umar, then there is a fourth tomb empty. It is for Jesus Christ. He is going to be with (them), coming and giving Salat-wa-Salam to Rasulullah (sws) and then giving up his pure soul to Allah, and the Mu'mins bury him
in the fourth tomb.

Then there will come a wind from Paradise. Who is dying then, it is so easy for them, such a tasteful death that people never tasted, That wind is coming and who is smelling it is falling down. And all believers falling, dying, and then are coming angels to take their bodies and bury them. The(re) should remain only Kufar on earth; and then the last days with earthquakes and Quiyama will come on them.

This is what the Prophet sws has informed us about. Therefore now we are looking how it is going to reach to that point. Only believers should be protected, unbelievers should be taken away. Therefore the punishment for Kufr, the penalty, is death, and millions or billions of people should die. But when they are killed, their souls are clean. They
are not like the Children of Israel- Allah is just forgiving them and putting them in Paradise. Those people now, billions are going to die, but that death is going to be the cleaning for them. Don't worry. When Allah Almighty is taking His revenge from them that they were wrong, then they should be granted with the(ir) last breath to say: 'Allah', and then they are taken away.

This is good tidings that today Grandsheikh is sending to me and I am happy, because so many people are so sorry. Everyone is born to die, no one is born to stay here. There are angels who say: 'You are going to be born for death and you are building for destroying'. Every building must be destroyed, every living one must die. Young or old- all are going to be taken away. But this time it is heavenly revenge. When Allah Almighty is taking His revenge from His servants, He is not going to give another punishment after death. Therefore many people are going to die because of their sins, because they worship shaitan and forget their Lord, but in the last moment, even that bullet, without reaching that person, an angel is coming and saying: 'Say: "Allah," say:" La ilaha ill-Allah!"' And falling down, finished.

Iraqi soldiers, American soldiers, English soldiers- doesn't matter, when dying, their souls come together. So many holy places in Iraq. They are protected by angels, Jinn and the Ashabu Nauba, holy ones. If they don't give permission for the American to enter, even one hundred times more (than the) American powers cannot do anything. But they gave permission and the Americans are advancing.

We are reaching to the end of time. That is our beliefs. What is much more powerful- to know something or to believe in something? People now are thinking that their knowledge is much more powerful than beliefs. And we are saying: If your knowledge is more powerful and also much more giving to people support through their lives- give your proof! Give your proof that that knowledge particularly that what they are calling 'positive knowledge'- is giving people much more support through their lives. Give your proof that we can accept it or refuse it. Because when they say that positive knowledge supports people individually and commonly, we are saying: If you say this truly, if it is a true thing, your knowledge must give to people peace through their hearts. Positive knowledge must take hesitating from people, from their hearts and must put there instead of hesitating satisfaction. Upto today I am not seeing that positive knowledge just gave to people satisfaction and peace through their hearts and taking away fear, because satisfaction and peace,when they are coming through the heart of a person or to common people, must take away fear from their hearts, must take away hopelessness from their hearts and must give to them satisfaction.

We are living now through the 21st century, and positive knowledge is on its limits, on the peak point, as they are claming today. Do you think that living people all of them in peace and in satisfaction? Give proof! Look Eaat and West, through all countries that use positive knowledge and instruments, that they are inventing and making countless instruments- which one giving satisfaction and peace to people now? Perhaps in opposite- positive knowledge just making people to reach to a point that they reach also the last point of fear. And also they reached last point of to be hopeless. And you see every
day on TV that people are not is satisfaction; all are in a fear atmosphere.

The atmosphere that they live in now, is full with fear, full with hopelessness, and their feelings, their thoughts, bringing them much more fear and much more hopelesness.

"Give your proof that that knowledge particularly that what they are calling 'positive knowledge'- is giving people mucch more support through their lives!"

And it is a perfect proof that people are running on streets; thousands, hundred thousands, millions of people are shouting through streets, through roads, through cities, and they are showing with their shouting and their writing, with their movements a fear- deep fear. They are only a handful of people that show their feelings through streets, but what about great mass of people that are billions? These millions are only the representatives of silent people, perhaps one per thousand. From every thousand persons there may be one showing his fear and feelings for coming days. They show their
hesitations and fears, but 999 are silent mass. People are silent. Same thing for those meetings and demonstrations through different countries, through every continent- they are only a handful of people, but they represent the silent mass, who is the majority of mankind. They are silent, they can't be able to show what they are feeling towards coming days and its violence and danger, its horror and sorrows.

Where is our positive knowledge, O learned people, Oscientists, O
philosophers? Where are you now? If you claim that our positive knowledge is
giving to people satisfaction and peace, show, bring your proof. How you are
claming that your positive knowledge is better than our beliefs? Bring proof!
I am making your proofs down! No one can reject it, no one can object in it,
no!

But beliefs, what they give to people, to their conscience, beliefs give
peace, satisfaction and refreshment, pleasure and pleasement, and hope for
life to people. Anyone from philosophers may say no? From learned people?
Where are your proofs, you, that you are teaching and you are so proud with
our knowledge? What is the benefit of your knowledge? Just you brought people
to the edge of hells with your positive knowledge! Just you throw people in a
depthless fear and sorrow valley. What are you doing?! Look now, it is 2003,
March, and Armageddon going to start. Going to be given a signal or a command
for pressing the greatest war, greatest fighting that the world never reached
such a battle, such a terrible war before, because positive knowledge just
prepared for killing and destroying mankind. They are trying to take away
(life), to make this globe as a desert. These weapons are so terrible, so
dangerous, that when they are going to be used, that areas never going to see
any more even ants there or never going to see any plant or grass to grow on
it. That is your knowledge, positive knowledge! You must ashame, o 21st
century scholars and their followers and their teachers. And may be for
shaitan a honour to make you to bring you to that dangerous point.

"..you brought people to the edge of hells with your positive knowledge! You
throw people in a depthless fear and sorrow valley. What are you doing?! Look
now, it is 2003, March, and Armageddon is going to start."

Only a handful people who are tasting through
their beliefs whole goodness, whole hope and
whole support from Heavens, they should be
happy. And these people on earth they should
live and who follows positive knowledge should
be as a mass, such as coal, and finished.
O people, we are calling you- but now it is too
late, because the holy Command just reached on
earth to take away whole those foolish people,
unbelievers, who believe only in a material
world, to take them away and to clean this
globe from those foolish people to establish a
new kingdom. Because only the satanic kingdom
is bringing nations to the edge of Armageddon
and Heavens asking now and looking to be taken
away this foolish satanic kingdom, to be
destroyed and to come in existence a new
kingdom- the Kingdom of Heavens. Kingdom of
believers- that is coming.

Therefore war must be. War, because it is the result of positive knowledge,
and it is the last target of the satanic kingdom to destroy everything on the
surface of this globe, and to make the whole world to be destroyed and mankind
to be killed.
This must be- no one can prevent it. It is heavenly Order, or heavenly
Justice's Decision for those foolish people that left to follow Prophets, that
left to give support for the divine Kingdom on earth, and it is a punishment
for those people who support on earth satanic kingdom and who follow satanic
teachings. They are going to be taken away and then coming peace on earth.
Those foolish people who are trusting in the support of positive knowledge and
its productions, they should be taken away and the world is going to be
cleaned from those foolish ones. Then a new generation with a brightened
Kingdom of Heavens is going to give a new life full with hope, full with
peace, to be only servants for the Lord of Heavens, to run after? only their
purpose and their target is to reach the pleasement from the Lord of Heavens.
Those people should live and others are going to be taken away.
O our Lord, we are not following, we never ask to follow satanic ways. We are
always hating those people who support the satanic kingdom on earth. Now we
are only a handful, but You may keep Your believers, Your good servants, for
the honour of the most honoured one through universe, through creation,
Sayidinna Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallim. Fatiha.

Muslim Community Schools

According to Runnymede Trust, education is the home of institutionalized
racism and even the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality also
thinks on the same line. British schools are not doing enough to tackle
racism and promote race relations. Many teachers are unaware of racist
attitudes amongst pupils. Schools have a responsibility not only to deal with
racist incidents but also to prepare pupils for life in multicultural and
multiracial society. According to an opinion poll race relations has
deteriorated over the past ten years and are set to get worse still. Recent
newspaper reports clearly indicate that Black as well as Asian pupils are
victims of discrimination in state schools. The minority children, especially
the Muslims are exposed to the pressure of racism, multiculturalism and
bullying. They suffer academically, culturally and linguistically.

London School of Islamics is an educational Trust. It's aim is to make
British public, institutions and media aware of the issues of the Muslim
community in the field of education and possible solutions.

Questions Concering "Shaykh" Nazim al-Qubrusi and his Deviation from the Naqshbandi Tariqah
Correspondence between M. Zubair Qamar and Shaykh Abdul Hadi Palazzi
FIRST LETTER
Assalam-u-alaikum Shaykh Abdul-Hadi,
I wanted to tell you something that might interest you. Remember I told you that I've studied with Shaykh Samir ("habashis") and their organization called AICP (Association of Islamic Charitable Projects)? Well, I consider him (to my knowledge) a scholar of Ahl al-Sunna. The surprising thing is that Shaykh Samir has written a small book against Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi. Shaykh Samir has proof from Shaykh Nazim's own books that he is an "innovator." I am confused on this issue. Shaykh Samir's refutation is on the world-wide-web. PLEASE read it and tell me your opinions about it. Shaykh Hisham Kabbani hates Shaykh Samir and his organization. Here is the web-site:
http://www.aicp.org/html/preface.htm
Refutation against Shaykh Qubrusi by Shaykh Samir al-Kadi
I look forward to hearing from you about this refutation against Shaykh Qubrusi by Shaykh Samir al-Kadi. According to Shaykh Samir, Shaykh Qubrusi is a "fake" follower of the Naqshbandi sufi order. Is this true? Please verify this for me.
BarakAllahu-fik. Assalam-u-alaikum-wa-Rehmtullah.
Your brother and student, Zubair
ANSWER
Wa 'alaykum salam wr wb dear Brother Zubair.
Until now, I have always abstained from criticizing Nazim al-Qubrusi, out of two main reasons: he was in the Naqshbandi silsilah, and his organization has converted to Islam many non-Muslims, especially in Europe and the US. It is a well-known fact that he is not a real 'alim in Islamic sciences, and some explanations about the Shari'ah I personally heard from him are at least questionable.
Decadence and deviations in tariqahs are a generalized situation, and that is the main reason why I do not tell Muslims, "Enter this or this other tariqah". The Sufi path is effective when the Shaykh is a real murshid, that is to say, a wali, and a wali is always, by definition, an 'alim. When you follow a tariqah whose shaykh, although not a wali, is a Sunni 'alim, you can at least increase you hasanats and your knowledge. Many of today's shuyukhs are not even ulemas, but having a shaykh who is only a pious Muslim could in some cases be enough.
The problem is - as always - that most of non-learnt shuyukhs can fall victims to kibr and pride, and Shaytan can influence them in creating bid'ahs and preaching strange doctrines. Imam Rabbani restored Sufism to a 100 % concordance with the Shari'ah, and the Naqshbandi tariqah has been for centuries a warranty of correctness in 'aqidah, fiqh and kalam. What I know is that high-level Naqshbandis in Istanbul (at least ten years ago) were fearing that Nazim would fall in dalalah: the project of "creating a form of da'wah for Western disciples" was quite hazardous, and the sentences quoted in Shaykh Samir's paper are enough to show that Nazim has already crossed the border that separate Sunni Islam from Batinism. The real risk is that his disciples will loose their iman and became another misguided sect. After Qadiyyanis and Bahais, we will have Nazimis, too! May Allah protect this Ummah from such a opportunity!
Unfortunately, finding Nazim's books in Italy is difficult. But there is no doubt that his local organization is quite strange. Most of his followers are completely unlearnt, and think that studying Islamic sciences is useless, since the "correct" way to approach Allah is not "reading the Koran, studying hadiths, studying fiqh, etc", but only "living with the Shaykh and attending his lessons". Some of them converted years ago, and are yet unable to read Arabic letters. I know a person that is called "Shaykh", claims to be Nazim's representative in Italy, but is not able to read from the Koran... I forwarded him a copy of your study on Mawalids, and he answered me, "Writing about the Shari'ah is dangerous and must be avoided. One risks committing mistakes..." When a Muslim start thinking, "I must accept everything that comes from my Shaykh, even in cases it contradicts the Shari'ah", he is separating himself from Ahl as-Sunnah and becoming a batini. On the contrary, as Shaykh Samir remembers, the Sahabahs used to discuss even Omar's ijtihad! Can Nazim, or someone else, be better than Omar al-Khattab in understanding the Shari'ah? Insha Allah Ta'ala, if you are able to find some of Nazim's books, please try to send me them by mail. I will study them accurately and - insha Allah - will ask the Board here to discuss the opportunity of a fatwa. May Allah always bless you and increase your science, wa-s-salamu 'alaykum wr wb.
SECOND LETTER
Assalam-u-'alaykum-wa-Rehmatullahi-wa-Barakatuh Shaykh Abdl-Hadi,
BarakAllahu-fik for your prompt replies to my messages. You are never fatigued to bid the "ma'roof" and forbid the munkar fi-SabiLillah. JazakAllahu al-khair! Hisham Kabbani's organization replied to the refutation by Shaykh Samir against Nazim at the following web-site:
http://naqshbandi.org/frmteach.htm
After reading it, I was not absolutely convinced because Kabbani's organization didn't answer to every single point that Shaykh Samir made against him. The bottom line is, if what Shaykh Samir al-Kadi quoted is true or not. The books are available over here in the United States. I'll buy his books and mail them to you InshaAllah. A Fatwa from your Association would be beneficial indeed after much circumspection of proof and claims from both sides. On a personal level, I have not heard or read anything in Hisham Kabbani's homepage that is incorrect (to my knowledge). About Nazim, I haven't read his books, but I have a very trustworthy and reliable friend over here who has, and he says that what Shaykh Samir quoted from his books was absolutely true. In fact, Shaykh Samir has named Hisham Kabbani as a deviant too since he heard him say: "Muhammad is Rahman." Furthermore, Shaykh Samir has named Nazim's Shaykh, Daghistani, a deviant also! Here is more of what Shaykh Samir said: "Also be warned against a faction known as ad-Daghistaniyyah who claim to follow the Naqshabandiyyah tariqah. They follow a man called Abdullah ad-Daghistaniyyah, who claimed he died and 124,000 prophets came and brought him back to life. He said he would not die again until the mahdiyy appears, and that he would live for seven years with the Imam al-Mahdi. Allahu akbar; he died about four months after he made that claim! Among his misguided sayings is: "He who recites the Fatihah will receive merits and benefits that no one among the waliyys or the prophets of Allah will receive--even if the person who recites the Fatihah was openly a blasphemer or a hypocrite who conceals his blasphemy." Abdullah ad- Daghistaniyyah's successor is a man named Nadhim al-Qubruziyy, also known as Nadhim al-Haqqaniyy. His group is present in this country represented by a misguided man by the name of Hisham Qabbaniyy and in other countries represente d by his brother, Adnan Qabbaniyy. They have several followers who follow them in ignorance."
The aforementioned is what is written in Shaykh Samir's organization's website (AICP) at:
http://www.aicp.org/html/sufism_part_2.htm
To see the main-page of AICP, go to:
http://www.aicp.org
Believe me shaykh, it seems to me that Nazim's followers follow him even when he is wrong. For instance, Shaykh Samir quoted from Nazim's book that if a Muslim goes to a guest's house, he should not be rude. If he is not sure that the meat he is eating is halal or not, he should say shahada a certain number of times, say something else a certain number of times, and then eat the meat. This is completely absurd. I will verify the quotes myself and then mail the books to you. If you can solve this dilemma for us, it would be great. On the AICP homepage, you will see Shaykh Samir's contact information. You may contact him in case you have specific questions about Nazim.
Also, there have been refutation web-sites against Shaykh Samir's organization by wahhabees (and ikweb-site:mazingly, it is also posted on the Naqshbandi homepage! Here is the web-site URL:
http://www.islam.org.au/articles/older/AHBASH.HTM
It was surprising to me that the Naqshbandi homepage included this article in their homepage, when it is quite obvious that it was written by a wahhabi or ikhwani. I wrote a message to Kabbani's organization asking them to verify WHO exactly the author is, but they didn't reply. As to whether those quotes are true or not, I don't know. Shaykh Samir can shed some light on that. That's all for now. May Allah bless you for your efforts and propagation of Truth. Ameen.
Assalam-u-alaikum-wa-Rehmtaullahi-wa-Barakatuh.
Your brother and student, Zubair
ANSWER
As-salamu 'alaykum wr wb dear Brother Zubair.
Obviously, the most terrible aspect underlined in Shaykh Samir's paper is Hisham Kabbani's declaration according to which "the Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) is ar-Rahman". According to the Arabic grammar, the name ar-Rahman can be used for Allah only, and saying, "a created being is ar-Rahman" is kufr al-zahir (explicit unbelief); there is no difference between this form of kufr and the doctrine of those Christians who say, "Inna Allaha Huwa al-Masih ibnu Maryam". Even Jews are using this name for Allah only. If Kabbani has already said so, (and there is no reason to doubt about Shaykh Samir's words), that means he is ignoring the basic knowledge of sifat ad-Dhatiyyah and at-Thubutiyyah. Ulemas of 'ilmu-l-kalam regard this knowledge as fard 'ayni! Some Divine names can be used for created being, too.
We can say, for instance, Zayd is a just person ('adil), is learnt ('alim), or ready to forgive (ra'uf), or even merciful (rahim). That means that is created nature participate (in a partial and limited way) of this attribute. Allah Himself says the Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) is "bi-l-mu'minina ra'uf-ur-rahim". On the contrary, there are other attributes that, in His science, Allah Ta'ala reserved for Himself only, and using them for created beings is kufr. None can be called "Quddus", "Maliku 'l-mulk", "Dhu 'l-jalali wa-l-ikram", etc. These Names only refer to the One Who is "Alladhi la ilaha illa Hu". Ar-Rahman is one of these names, and it is the closest one to the Dhat ilahiyyah express by the name "Allah". For this reason Allah says, "Supplicate Allah, or supplicate ar-Rahman...", and the Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said, "The most beautiful names (for a Muslim) are 'Abd-Ullah and 'Abdu-r-Rahman".
It is quite hard to think that someone who ignores all this is a legitimate heir of the silsilah of Shaykh an-Naqshbandi and Imam Rabbani. Words attributes to Shaykh Daghestani are really dangerous, too. The Sunni 'aqidah is "A Ulu-l-'azm is closer to Allah than a Rasul, a Rasul is closer than a Nabi, a Nabi is closer than a Wali, and a Wali is closer than a non-Wali". This doctrine is so generally accepted that even Ibn Taimiyyah repeats it in its traditional formulation. A single 'ibadah cannot make a person better than a Wali or a Prophet, while those who say, "A Wali can reach a higher degree than a Prophet" are Imamiyyah, Ismailiyyah or Batiniyyah. Please, if it is possible for you, forward a copy of this message of mine to Shaykh Samir al-Kadi. I want of express my support for his jihad, and tell him "Jazak-Allahu khayra". In the meanwhile, insha Allah Ta'ala, I will read Kabbani's answer. In my opinion, a real Sunni 'alim would never quote a wahhabi-salafi document to support his point of view. Al-Haqq cannot be supported by al-batil, since al-batil disappears when al-Haqq comes. May Allah bless you again and again, and reward you for your precious work. I am always remembering you in my du'ahs.
Abdul Hadi Palazzi
What Sheikh Nazim al Haqqani said about Maulana Rumi:
Nothing moves without divine power. No object can stand without six equal forces. There is another power making the atom move. It is obedient to it's Creator's will. From the smallest thing to the largest; everything is moving according to the Will of it's Creator. Everyone is a unit. There is not two of anything. Everyone is in a private situation. Among millions of men and women, everyone is in a private circle, from their birthday to their last day, their death day: a circle. Everyone's circle is different. Everyone is moving in a special circle. We call it 'destination' and they are all different. They are all arranged and prepared. It is a perfect foundation; all destinations are perfect. This perfection is from Allah Almighty's perfection. According to the light of your faith, power will be granted and appear to you. You may be looking and seeing some realities, maybe 1%, maybe more. W e are in need of more lights and faith. Everyone has been granted 'iman', faith, everyone knows what it is but very few people may enter the inner faith, like Buckingham Palace, it is only for a few select people. It is an order from Allah Almighty to see reality. Work on 'La illah illallah' (The only reality is God). This year Allah has sent Mevlevi murids to use our will power physically. The Lord is pleased with us. The 'sema' (whirling ritual)is for Allah, if you don't like it, go. The permission is from the Grandsheikh for the sake of this tariqat, Grandsheikh may open for a particular person. There are angels wearing the Mevlevi dress whirling for Allah.
What Sheikh Nazim al Haqqani said about Maulana Rumi:
He is, he has no nothingness, I love him and I boast of him, I chose his path, I turn my face to his path.
Everyone has a lover, he is my lover, eternal lover.
He is the one I love, he is beautiful, oh he is most perfect.
The ones who love him are the never dying lovers.
He is he and he is he and they are he.
This is a secret if you hve love you will understand it. Maulanas understand it, for others it is forbidden.
Deobandism (Wahhabism)
Deobandism (Wahhabism) are the real enemy of Sufism (Barelwism) Islam in whole World.
Website Address:
http://fazli-group.freeyellow.com/JAAULHAQPG00.html

They are namely Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Jhangavi and now a days Millet-i-Islamia under the leadership of Satan Azam Tariq. They were involved in the target shootings and murders of Sufi Muslims (Barelwi Muslims) doctors and tens of intellectuals including Barelwi Muslims
Famous Leader in Islamic Republic of Pakistan Hazrat Maulana Salim Qadri Shaheed, the chief of the Sunni Tehrik and his six year old son Bilal Raza Shaheed. They were also involved in many massacres of innocent people inside the Shiite mosques in Pakistan. Because of their Saudi link. Now a days Afghan Taliban and their Wahhabis and Deobandis so called Muslims who teach lawful to kill men, women and children mostly are convicted and caught in the whole world.

For more information kindly read famous Islamic book known as Jaa-ul-Haq's pages on our current website's hot links from page number 9 to page number 17 Subject: Wahhabism =(Salafism)and from page number 424 to page number 432 Subject: Deobandism = (Wahhabism).

Ahl-e-Sunnat wal-Jama'at - Sunni Muslims

The Ahl-e-Sunnat wal-Jama'at belongs to the Hanafi School of thought and are referred to as Barelwi. The word `Hanafi' comes from the name of a great scholar of Islam, Imam Abu Haneefa. The name `Barelwi' is taken from the town where Imam Ahman Raza Khan lived and also from
the Islamic University at Braeilly, established by Imam Khan. Ahmad Raza Khan was a great scholar and a Sufi who defended the way in which Ahl-e-Sunnat wal-Jama'at used elaborate ritual and great devotion to the Prophet Muhammad. Barelwi Muslims include the veneration of saints, the visiting of shrines and the celebration of important religious anniversaries in the practice of their religion.

Wahhabi so called Muslims and Deobandi so called Muslims In Views Of Barelwi Momin Muslims:
Barelwi School Of Thought :

Maulana Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi, founder of Barelvi school of thought among the Sunni Muslims of Indo-Pakistan sub-continent has declared in his fatwa (1320 h) that Wahhabi and Deobandi are kafirs and enemy of Islam. Mufti Ahmad Yar Khan in his book "Jaa-Ul-Haq" also proved that Wahhabi and Deobandi are kafirs and enemy of Islam. Please always remember that Deobandis, who just show to follow the Hanafi school,who accept only hadith under Imam Hanbal and Famous killer of Muslims known as Abdul Wahab.People who follow Abdul Wahab teachings are known as Wahhabis.

The Deobandis are one of the groups of so called Muslims. This group is connected to and named after the University of Deoband – Dar al-Uloom – in India founded by Muhammad Qaasim al-Nanatuwi. Deobandis are so called followers the of Imaam Abu Haneefah with regard to fiqh and really beliefs in Mohammed Ibn Abdul Wahhab Najdi declared the Ahle Sunna Muslims as 'Kafirs'. He passed a ruling that it was lawful to kill men, women and children belonging to the
Muslims. In fact, it is recorded in the books of history, that, the Wahhabis killed over 100,000 thousand Muslim men and enslaved the women and children.Wahhabis came into power by torturing and killing Muslims in Mecca and Medina. Now are you ready vote for real Islam (Sufism and Barelwism) who teach path of Love or you are ready to vote for Afghan Taliban and
their Wahhabis and Deobandis so called Muslims who teach lawful to kill men, women and children.

Afghan Taliban and their Wahhabis and Deobandis so called Muslims are the real enemy for image of Islam and the real problem in this whole World. An easy way to detect Wahhabi/"Salafi" literature is to look in the books/pamphlets and search for where the information is printed. Such
literature will have King Fahd's name stamped on it or come from "Saudi" Arabia (or any other Gulf nations supporting the Saud regime).Keep in mind...

Nothing good has ever came from Najd!

These Shayateen (Satan)first called themselves Wahhabiyya, but after numerous fatawa were passed about them, they soon changed their name to Salafiyya. Notice the exact traits the Wahhabi/Salafi's have of the Khawarij: Only Hadiths which their "scholars" authenticate are "authentic." They feel they are the only ones who are practicing Islam correctly. Anyone who is not a "salafi"/Wahhabi is a Mushrik. They dress this up by calling those non-Najdi's as being "Sufi's."

They won't hesitate to declare the blood of a Muslim as legal. They will never label a Non-Muslim, etc. as being a Mushrik, but will call a Muslim a Mushrik.

They only fight against Muslims.

They absolutely hate Ahlul-Bayt! You'll never see one book where they advocate sincerely love for the Ahl al-Bayt. They try to dress up their hatred of Ahlul-Bayt by saying: "We like
Ahlul-Bayt, but we don't worship them." Keep in mind that the Khawarij declared the blood of Ahlul-Bayt at the time of Mawlana Ali bin Abi Taleb (Radhi Allahu Anhu) to be legal as well as his own blood.

Just look at their history as to how they slaughtered COUNTLESS
Hashimiyya in Ta'if, Yemen, and Syria!

They declare any Muslim who says he loves Sayyidina Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) as being a Mushrik. The Khawarij made a big fuss over Salaah. The "Salafiyya" do the same.
The Khawarij hated Al-Imam al-A'zam Abi Hanifah (Radhi Allahu anhu). The "Salafiyya": Likewise. And there is MANY, MANY more!!! and you'll see them on this site, insha-Allah.
Ahl - e sunnah wal jamaa means that Muslims [Sufi Muslims (Barelwi Muslims) in the whole World] who follow Prophet Mohammed [peace be upon him] teaching.

Deobandism (Wahhabism) are the real enemy of Sufism (Barelwism) Islam in whole World and so called Sunni Muslims who are Satan Saudi link Al-Qaida who claims the terror network funded Satan Afghan Taliban and their Satan Wahhabis [Satan Salafi] and Satan Deobandis who
follow Satan Mohammed Ibn Abdul Wahhab Najdi teaching terror who declared the Ahle Sunna Muslims as 'Kafirs'. He passed a ruling that it was lawful to kill men, women and children belonging to the Muslims. If any one of us call Saudi sponsored Wahabi [Deobandi] {salafi}
organizations a Muslims than our brothers will be not known as Shaheed.

Time has come for Saudi sponsored Wahabi [Deobandi] {salafi} organizations who are killing Muslims and Non-Muslims to better pay price soon by handover them self to Pakistani Govt otherwise USA Govt will turn them history any way soon. Amen

Wahabi [Deobandi] {Salafi} Organizations So Called Muslims TO BE AVOIDED.
A'la Hazrat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi (radi Allahuanhu) has identified Wahabi [Deobandi] {salafi} organizations Cults which he said have Shaitaan as their Murshid. Muslims should avoid such groups, as taking guidance from them will invite the Wrath of Allah Ta'ala. The Cults identified by A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu) are: Those who believe in the Book "Taqwi'atul Imaan" by Ismail Dehlawi and have turned their backs on the Quran and the Hadith. According to
their principles and beliefs contained in the afore-mentioned text, even Allah and His Rasool (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) are Mushriks! The text "Taqwi'atul Imaan" is the source text and root of Wahabi [Deobandi] {Salafi}.

Worst than all those are the Deobandis who have rationalized Kufriah teachings of Gangohi, Nanotwi and Thanwi, etc, and colouring it in as an Islamic context. They have transgressed to such an extent that they have accepted insults of Allah Ta'ala and the beloved Rasool (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam).

Wahabi[Deobandi]{Salafi} So Called Muslims SOME FALSE BELIEFS
ANSWERED.

To think according to principle, to possess true faith and believe and accept the true Commands of Islam is known as "Aqeeda". It is also understood as one's intention, concept and path that one
follows. It must also be understood that the basis of one's action is one's Imaan and that the basis of one's Imaan is one's Aqeeda. If one's Aqeeda is corrupt, then one's Imaan is improper and if one's Imaan is not proper, then his Amaal (actions) are useless. In other words, Aqeeda is the soul, Imaan is the body and Amal is the garb.

To have good and strong Imaan, one must have the proper Aqeeda. It is for this reason that we quote a few un-Islamic beliefs together with the proper Islamic answers, so that we may, after reading about them, repent from any false and corrupt beliefs that we may hold and, thereafter, hold firmly to the proper Islamic beliefs. To hold improper per Aqeeda leads to Kufr, whereas proper Aqeeda is strength for Imaan. The un-Islamic beliefs which we have quoted below are quotations from Wahabi[Deobandi]{Salafi} So Called Muslims who possess such beliefs and by writing them in this book, we have no intention of Kufr.

FALSE BELIEF 1:"Allah can speak lies". ("Barahine Qaatia" by Khaleel Ambetwi; "Yakrozi" by Ismaeel Dehlwi; "Fatawa Rasheedia" by Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi). PROPER BELIEF: Lies is a defect which is not worthy of the Zaat of Almighty Allah and is totally Muhaal(Impossible) for Almighty Allah. Allah is free from all shortages and defects thus making lies Muhaal for Almighty Allah.

FALSE BELIEF 2:To say that Allah is free from place,space, direction and time, etc. is to be misled.("Izaahul Haq" by Ismaeel Dehlwi)
PROPER BELIEF: Time and space have been created and will be eventually destroyed. Almighty Allah is Qadeem(Always Is and Always Will Be). If one accepts Allah to be in a fixed place and in a fixed time zone, then one will have to accept, Ma'az-Allah, that Allah is a creation and can be destroyed, whereas it is well known that, that which is Haadith (non-Eternal) and can be destroyed can never be Allah. The Being of Allah is Eternal and anything that is non-Eternal cannot be Allah. It is, thus, necessary to accept Almighty Allah to be free from time and place.

FALSE BELIEF 3:The Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) had died and is mixed in the sand. ("Taqweeyat-ul Imaan" by Ismaeel Dehlwi)
PROPER BELIEF: It has been stated in the Hadith: "Verily, Almighty Allah has made it Haraam upon the earth to eat the bodies of the Ambiya". It has also been stated that Ambiya are alive and are blessed with Sustenance from Almighty Allah.

FALSE BELIEF 4: Every creation, no matter how big or small, is equivalent to a cobbler before Allah. ("Taqweeyat-ul Imaan" by Ismaeel Dehlwi)
PROPER BELIEF: The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sallal laahualaihi wasallam) is the most beloved Nabi of Almighty Allah. Almighty Allah took Qasm (Oath) even on the city of the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). He is the greatest of the creations of Almighty Allah.His
every word is accepted in the Court of Allah. He is a perfection in the Attributes of Almighty Allah and Allah has not created any unique being besides Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam).

FALSE BELIEF 5: Ambiya are not totally free from lies.To say that it is not possible for Ambiya to lie or to say that they are totally sinless is false.("Tasfiyatul Aqaa'id" by Qasim Nanothwi Founder Of Deoband University In India)
PROPER BELIEF: Ambiya and Malaa'ikah are Masoom (Sinless). It is Muhaal for them to commit sin. Committing a sin is not a quality of Ambiya. Ambiya are free from all small and big sins and all defects even before and after their Nubuwat.

FALSE BELIEF 6: The Ummah sometimes supercede the Ambiya in A'maal (Good deeds). ("Tahzeerun Naas" by Qasim Nanotwi Founder Of Deoband University In India)
PROPER BELIEF: An ordinary Muslim is not equal to a practising Muslim. A practising Muslim can never be equal to a non-Aalim, who is not equal to an Aalim. An Aalim is never equal to a Wali, a Wali can never be equal to a Tabbe Taabi'ee. A Tabbe Taabi'ee can never be equal to a Taabi'ee. A Taabi'ee can never be equal to a Sahaba. A Sahaba can never be equal to the Khulafa-e-Arbaa. None from the Khulafa-e-Arbaa can be equal to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Siddique. He in
turn can never be equal to a Nabi. No Nabi can be equal in any way to the King of Prophets, Muhammad Mustapha (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam). How then can a Ummah supercede Nabi Muhammad (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) in good deeds? Ma'az-Allah!

FALSE BELIEF 7: To think of an ox and donkey in Salaah is permissible, but to think of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) in Salaah is Shirk(Polytheism). ("Seerate Mustaqeem" by
Ismaeel Dehlwi)
PROPER BELIEF: For a Muslim to perform any Ibaadat accepting that it is a noble action of Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is the true sense of Ibaadat. If one reads Namaaz thinking of it as the Sunnah of the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam),then, without
doubt, one will think of the Prophet(sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). This belief creates in the mind of the performer the thought of the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). Not only is the thought of the Prophet in Namaaz permissible, it is also the demand of Shari'ah that one must remember the Holy Prophet (salall laahu alaihi wasallam) at the time of Tashahud. According to the Fuqaha (Jurists) it is Waajib to believe that the Prophet (sallal laahualaihi wasallam) is observing you and that he is aware of your actions.

FALSE BELIEF 8: Any person who says the Nabi to be Haazir and Naazir is a Kaafir. ("Jawaahirul Quraan" by Ghulaamullah Khan)
PROPER BELIEF: Until and unless we do not accept Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) as being Haazir and Naazir, the concept of Risaalat will be incomplete. Our Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is Shaahid, Mubashir and Nazeer.

FALSE BELIEF 9: Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is our elder brother and we are his younger brothers. ("Taqweeyatul Imaan" by Ismaeel Dehlwi)
PROPER BELIEF: The Holy Quran has commanded us that the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) cannot be regarded as the father of anyone of you. How then can he be regarded as the elder brother? Then, to call him elder brother is disrespect and against of Quranic command. We are the Ummati, he is the Nabi. We are sinners, he is the Masoom most pure. We are believers, he is the source of Imaan. The difference here is enormous. It must be understood, that if the
husband takes his wife as his mother, then his Nikah will be nullified. Likewise, if one takes the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) as the elder brother, then one's Imaan will be nullified.

FALSE BELIEF 10: To respect the Prophet deeply is Kufr. ("Ad Durrun Nadheed" by Qazi Shaukani)
PROPER BELIEF: The respect and reverence of the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is not only waajib, but is an obligation upon every Muslim. Unless a person does not love the Prophet (sallal laahualaihi wasallam) more than anyone and anything in the world, his Imaan will
not be perfected. The love of the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is the first condition of Imaan.

FALSE BELIEF 11: The grave of the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is an idol and to respect it is Kufr and Shirk. ("Ad Durrun Nadheed" by Qazi Shaukani)
PROPER BELIEF: Roza-e-Anwar more exalted than Jannat. The Qabr-e-Anwar is a sign of Imaan and Taqwa.

FALSE BELIEF 12: Any person who says, "As Salaatu Was Salaamu Alaika Ya Rasoolallah", is a Bid'ati and sinner. ("Akhbaar Ahle Hadith Amritsar")
PROPER BELIEF: Bukhari and Muslim narrate on the authority of Hazrat Uthman bin Haneef (radi Allahu anhu) that a Sahabi who was blind by birth was once taught a special Du'a by the Holy Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), which he was to recite after every Salaah. The Du'a
is as follows: "O Allah, I ask from you, and turn towards you through the Wasila of Your Prophet Muhammad (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), who is indeed a prophet of mercy. O Muhammad (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam)! with your Wasila, I turn towards Allah for my need so that
it may be bestowed.O Allah, accept the Prophet's intercession for me". To say "Ya Nabi" and call to the Holy Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), and to send salutations upon him, is the Sunnah of Almighty Allah, the Angels, the Prophets and the Sahaaba-e-Kiraam. Almighty Allah has commanded us to send salutations upon the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) in abundance. To send Durood at least once in one's life is Fard and in Namaaz it is Waajib. It is also Waajib to send salutations out of Namaaz, for the fist time the name of the Prophet is mentioned. Even if the name is mentioned continuously, then to send salutations is Sunnah.

FALSE BELIEF 13: To ask assistance from the Prophet(sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is the work of Shaitaan and Shirk. ("Kashfush Shubhaat" by Abdul Wahab Najdi; "Taqweeyatul Imaan" by Ismaeel Dehlwi)
PROPER BELIEF: "Ya Rasoolallahi Unzur Haalana, Ya Habeeballahi Isma Qaalana, Innani fir Bahri Hammim Mughriqun, Khuz Yaddi Sahhil lanaa Ishkaalana", has been the Wazeefa of the great predecessors and is accepted as a means of asking from the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi
wasallam). To seek assistance from the Prophet (salall laahu alaihi wasallam) and seek Wasila of Awliya and Saaliheen is permissable.

FALSE BELIEF 14: To use the Ambiya, Awliya and Malaa'ikah as a means of Wasila Mediation). ("Tohfa-e-Wahaabiya" by Ismaeel Dehlwi)
PROPER BELIEF: We did not enter this world without means, and we will not leave this world without means.With the exception of the verse of the Quran commanding mediation, the following verses of Sheikh Bouseeri and Sheikh Saadi (radi Allahu anhuma) are always in the Du'as of Muslims: "Ya Rabbi bil Mustapha Baligh Maqasidana, Waghfirlana Ma Madaa Ya Waasi al Karami", and "Ilahi bahaqe bani Fathima, ke Barqaul Imaan Qunni Khatima, Agar Daawatam rad Kunni War Qabool, Manno Dast Damaane Aale Rasool".

FALSE BELIEF 15: Anyone who accepts the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) to be an intercessor for him on the Day of Qiyamah, is a Mushrik equal to Abu Jahl. ("Taqweeyatul Imaan")
PROPER BELIEF: When the intercession of a Hafizul Quran, according to the Hadith Shareef, and of an Aalim ba Amal is accepted, then why not that of Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)? On the Day of Qiyamah, the doors of intercession will be opened by none other than
the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). It is also very rewarding to recite Durood-e-Taaj.

FALSE BELIEF 16: "Rahmatul Lil Alameen" (Mercy unto the Worlds) is not a special title of the Prophet(sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), but the Ummati are also "Rahmatul Lil Alameen". ("Fatawa Rasheedia")
PROPER BELIEF: "Rahmatul Lil Alameen" is the unique quality of Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) as stated in the Holy Quran.

FALSE BELIEF 17: To say that if Allah and His Rasool wills, then only will a certain thing happen, is Shirk.
PROPER BELIEF: That which Rasoolullah (sallal laahualaihi wasallam) wants, is what Allah wills. Almighty Allah will not will anything without the pleasure of the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam).

FALSE BELIEF 18: Those persons whose names are "Muhammad" or "Ali" have no control over anything. ("Taqweeyatul Imaan")
PROPER BELIEF: Almighty Allah has blessed the Prophet(sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) with the keys to the treasures of both the worlds and Hazrat Ali's (radi Allahu anhu) name is the means of assistance in problems, why then can they not have any control?

FALSE BELIEF 20: The knowledge of the Prophet is like children and animals. The knowledge of Shaitaan is more than the Prophet. To say that the Prophet possessed 'Ilm-e-Ghayb or Knowledge of the Unseen, is Shirk. ("Hifzul Imaan" by Ashraf Ali Thanwi; "Barahine
Qaatia"; "Fatawa Rasheedia")
PROPER BELIEF: The meaning of the word "Nabi" alone is "one who knows and shows the Unseen". What position does the knowledge of an ordinary person hold in front of that of the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)? It is even less than a drop in front of an ocean or
a grain of dust compared to all the sand in the world. The Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) has been blessed with all the knowledge by Almighty Allah.

FALSE BELIEF 21: If Allah wills, then he may create a million Muhammads. ("Taqweeyatul Imaan") A Prophet can even come after Muhammad (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). ("Tahzeerun Naas" By Founder Of Deoband University In India)
PROPER BELIEF: The doors of Prophethood have been sealed. Muhammad (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is the Seal of Prophethood. The Prophet also said that no Prophet shall come after him. Any person who claims Nabuwat after the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) is a Liar, Dajjal Kazaab and a Shaitaan.

FALSE BELIEF 22: To commemorate the Meelad is like commemorating the function of the Hindu deity. ("Baharine Qaatia" by Khaleel Ambethwi)
PROPER BELIEF: Meelad is a means of gaining blessings and closeness to Almighty Allah. It is the practice of all the great predecessors. Many sources of Shari'ah are available to prove it's authencity.

FALSE BELIEF 23: The illusion of illusionists are greater than the Miracle of Prophets. ("Mansab-e-Imaamat")
PROPER BELIEF: The Miracles of Prophets are to show proof of their Prophethood and it is that which is from Allah, whereas the illusions of illusionists are from Shaitaan.

FALSE BELIEF 24: Anyone who says the Sahaba to be Kaafirs is not out of the Sunnah Jamaat. ("Fatawa Rasheedia")
PROPER BELIEF: By one calling an ordinary Muslim a Kaafir, he himself becomes a Kaafir. How then can those who call the Sahaba Kaafirs not be Kaafirs?

FALSE BELIEF 25: To call oneself "Qaaderi", "Chishti", "Naqshabandi", etc. is Bid'at and words of Kufr. ("Tazkeerul Ikhwaan")
PROPER BELIEF: To call oneself by these titles are totally allowed and is a means of recognition of ones spiritual order. Examples of these are: Siddiqi, Alawi, Uthmaani, Farooqi, Hanafi Shafa'i, etc.

FALSE BELIEF 26: To put lights, carpets, to give water and food, or arrange Wudhu water at the Mazaar of Awliyah Allah are Shirk.
PROPER BELIEF: If carry out all the above mentioned practices at other places are permissible, then it should be a means of blessing to do so at the Darbaar of Wali where there are a gathering of
Muslims.

FALSE BELIEF 27: To eat and drink the Tabarukaat (Niyaz In The Name Of Allah) of the Saints causes the heart to die(spiritually). ("Fatawa Rasheedia")
PROPER BELIEF: Eating the Niyaz of the Awliya brightens the heart and one's life and is a means of great blessing.

FALSE BELIEF 28: To call the Prophet "Shafi'ul Muznibeen", to recite Khatam, to imagine the blessed face and the Tomb of Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), to think that he has authority - all these qualities, even with the granting of Allah Ta'ala - is all Shirk, so much like the Shirk of Abu Jahl.(Kitaabut-Tauheed by Ibne Abdul Wahab Najdi)
PROPER BELIEF: According to authentic sources of Islamic Shari'ah, to belief that Rasoolullah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) is interceder, mercy, authority, helpful, and to imagine his blessed face and Tomb with respect, is regarded as a great and rewarding action. To recite Khatam Shareef is also permissable and rewarding as well. A person who denies this, his belief is like Abu Jahl.

Note: To believe all these above mentioned false "Islamic" beliefs makes a person a hypocrite, Tablighi, Deobandi, Maudoodi, Ahle Quran (People of Quran), etc. which are totally out of Islam. Any person who falsely claims to be the true Mahdi is misguided and a Faasiq. Any person who says that Almighty Allah can lie, that the Prophet's (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) knowledge are like those of animals, that the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) is not the
Final Messenger,and the Prophet's knowledge is less than Shaitaan, etc. is a KAAFIR (totally out of the folds of Islam). We should not perform Salaah or associate with such persons as their companionship is detrimental to our Imaan.

Now a days one of the biggest and fastest-growing of world religions, Islam in the post-Sept. 11 world attracts more attention than ever. Its external observers tend to be either lumpers or splitters. Many lumpers regard the Muslim experience monolithically — often in negative,talk-radio style as the single-minded source of virulent terrorism. This column is not in praise of lumpers.
Most splitters differentiate along two axes. A first distinction deals with the place of Islam in human affairs. On one extreme is Islamism (such as practiced by the Afghan Taliban and their Wahhabi and Deobandi mentors) which makes Islam the obligatory basis of all activity and recognizes no separation between mosque and state — indeed, condemns as sacrilegious the Western concept of nation-state. At the other pole is Muslim Momins which relegates Islam to private belief and, as in modern Turkey and Pakistan etc, guards against any expansion of religious role. Along the spectrum lie infinite gradations, such as the "traditional" Islam of pre-Taliban and pre-communist Afghanistan: present but not determinate in politics, culturally pervasive but in a manner more pious than zealous.

But take heart. There is yet Momin's Islam that turns on another axis. Sufism — a.k.a. Islamic mysticism —thrives among both Sunnis and Shi'as. And its central concern is not war but love. Far more often they concentrate on what sufis call the "real work" of internal, spiritual development.The two dimensions of (Jihad) first is Holy War In Islam and second is Struggle in the name of Allah (The God): First)an external jihad against the forces of ungodliness outside one's self and Second) a more difficult internal struggle — the "greater jihad" — against forces of evil within one's own being.Sufis claim that the Prophet (like other Islam-revered prophets such
as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus[pbut]) was himself a sufi whose years of spiritual practice —plus the imponderable of God's grace — prepared and purified his heart to receive the Holy Qoran. The initial revelation came, without warning, in 610 CE. Despite his years of solitary prayer in a mountain cave, Mohammed[peace be upon him] was amazed and terrified. We catch that suddenness in the sufi poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi, born in or near Afghanistan in 1207.Please note that things are broken open by love and from the inside. Such emphasis on interior dynamics is condemned by most current so-called Islamism which, as with the Taliban, insists on the external letter of the self-made Sharia (Muslim Law). Sufis also observe the Law, but in less strident tones and as more a means than an end. Its deeper purpose: to serve as a "lamp" on each sect's mystical tariqa or Path of Love. Law is necessary, but Love is Truth. Sufism in Islam deserves better. Time has come for peace on Earth and Time has come to promote Sufism (Barelwism) Islam in whole World.

Question: A few days back [someone] defaced a dua on the wall of the mosque, claiming that it contained bid'aat. This was the very post-azan dua, in which the words "wad-darajat al-rafi'a" and "wa[r] zukna shafa'atuhu yaum al-qiyama" were found objectiona[ble].... This caused quite a stir in the mosque, as even the imam ... seemed implicated in the move, citing ahadith to establish that these words were alien to the sunnah and added by unscrupulous malbelievers. ... Although non-scholars, it seems hightly improbably to us that the jumhur should have been so wrong and for so long. Could you please provide the references and contextualization urgently needed?

1. As for the wording “wal-darajat al-rafī‘a”: the sound wording of the post-adhān du‘ā does not contain the words “wad-darajat al-rafī‘a” but only “al-wasīlata wal-fad.īla.” This is found in the two S.ah.īh.s of al-Bukhārī (see Arabic text immediately below) and Muslim, the four Sunan, the Musnad of Imām Ah.mad, and others. The h.adīth states, as narrated from Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh *# , that the Prophet  said: “Whoever says, upon hearing the call [to prayer]: ‘Allāhumma rabba hādhihi al-da‘wati al-tāmmati wal-s.alāti al-qā’ima, āti Muh.ammadan al-wasīlata wal-fad.īlata wa-b‘athhu maqāman mah.mūdan al-ladhī wa‘adtahu – O Allāh! Lord of this perfect call and everlasting prayer, give Muh.ammad the Means and the Eminence, and raise him to a glorious station which you have promised him’ – my intercession takes place for him the Day of Resurrection.”
عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ*# أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ مَنْ قَالَ حِينَ يَسْمَعُ النِّدَاءَ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ هَذِهِ الدَّعْوَةِ التَّامَّةِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْقَائِمَةِ آتِ مُحَمَّدًا الْوَسِيلَةَ وَالْفَضِيلَةَ وَابْعَثْهُ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا الَّذِي وَعَدْتَهُ حَلَّتْ لَهُ شَفَاعَتِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ.
(Also correct is the wording: المَقَامَ المَحْمُودَ found in al-Nasā’ī.)

The Prophet  said, as narrated from Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī by Ah.mad and Ismā‘īl al-Qād.ī in Fad.l al-S.alāt ‘alā al-Nabī  (p. 48) with a fair chain according to al-Fayrūz Ābādī in al-S.ilāt wal-Bushar (p. 74) that the Wasīla or Means was “a level (darajatun) in the Divine presence above which there was no higher level (laysa fawqahā daraja).” Similarly, the fad.īla also precisely means “the exalted level,” i.e. the daraja rafī‘a. So the words wal-darajata al-rafī‘a are in fact a gloss that became interpolated into the text of the du‘a, as found in Imām Abū ‘Abd Allāh al-Jazūlī’s book Dalā’il al-Khayrāt (which is by the agreement of the Umma one the Signs of Allāh Most High in the science of invoking blessings and salutations upon our Prophet ) and other devotional literature. Does it change the meaning? No, it clarifies it. Does it constitute an addition to the text of the h.adīth? Yes, its technical name being mudraj or interpolated discourse. Is it alien to the Sunna and/or does it constitute a bid‘a? No! It is in essence like saying: “al-wasīlata wal-fad.īla, meaning, wad-darajat al-rafī‘a.” Which wording is better? The one reported in the S.ah.īh.ayn and Sunan.

Al-Haythamī in Majma‘ al-Zawā’id (10:112) said it is narrated with a chain containing Mut.t.arih. ibn Yazīd who is weak. However, the h.adīth Masters and the great Jurists and major authorities of Us.ūl al-Fiqh concur that it is permissible to put into practice weak h.adīths in meritorious deeds not bearing on the h.alāl and the h.arām as long as [1] the meanings of such a weak h.adīth are firmly confirmed by principles already established in the Law, [2] the h.adīth is not excessively weak, such as containing someone accused of forgery in its chain, and [3] one does not hold that the Prophet  said or did it for sure. The above h.adīth meets all the above criteria, hence Imām al-Mundhirī retained it in his manual of recommended acts titled al-Targhīb wal-Tarhīb (1997 ed. 2:300 #2473) as did the h.adīth Master ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī as stated by Zayn al-Dīn Sha‘bān ibn Muh.ammad al-Āthārī (d. 828) in his epistle al-Khayr al-Kathīr fīl-S.alāt wal-Salām ‘alā al-Bashīr al-Nadhīr (in his Khamsat Nus.ūs. Islāmiyya Nādira, Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī ed. p. 57) although the latter refers it through Ibn Mas‘ūd .

2. As for the wording “wa-rzuqnā shafā‘atahu yawma al-qiyāma”: it too is not contained in the sound narration cited above. However, it is found in weak narrations that meet the criteria of permissible use in the Sharī‘a, and Allāh knows best. Among these narrations:

Third, the narration from Jābir  by Ibn Wahb (125-197) in his Jāmi‘ adduced by Shaykh al-Islām Shams al-Dīn al-Qast.allāni in his masterpiece, Masālik al-H.unafā’ (p. 279) in which the Prophet  says: “Whoever says, upon hearing the call to prayer: ‘O Allāh! Lord of this perfect call and everlasting prayer, bless Muh.ammad, Your servant and Messenger, and give him the means and intercession on the Day of Resurrection’: my intercession takes place for him.”

Fourth, the narration from Ibn ‘Umar *# by Ismā‘īl al-Qād.ī in Fad.l al-Salāt ‘alā al-Nabī  (p. 49) in which the Prophet  said: “Whoever invokes blessings upon me or asks the wasīla for me, my intercession takes place for him on the day of resurrection.” Al-Fayrūz Ābādī in al-S.ilāt wal-Bushar (p. 68) said its narrators were trustworthy and it is confirmed by the h.adīth of the S.ah.īh.ayn and Sunan already cited.

Al-Qast.allānī also adduces the two reports (p. 284) already mentioned from Ibn ‘Abbās and Abū al-Dardā’.

In addition, he mentions (p. 227-228) two explicit Prophetic reports that support the fundamental creed that invoking blessings on the Prophet  leads to obtaining his intercession: [1] “Whoever invokes blessings upon me, I will be his intercessor the Day of Resurrection”. Narrated from Abū Bakr al-S.iddīq by Ibn Abī Dāwūd and al-H.asan ibn Ah.mad ibn al-Bannā’ with a good chain according to al-Fayrūz Ābādī in al-S.ilātu wal-Bushar (p. 34) as stated in Ibn al-Qayyim’s Jalā’ and Sirāj al-Dīn’s al-S.alāt (p. 141). [2] “Whoever invokes blessings upon me ten times in the morning and ten times in the evening, my intercession will include him on the Day of Resurrection.” Narrated from Bakr ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Muzanī by al-T.abarānī – with a good mursal chain according to al-Sakhāwī in al-Qawl al-Badī‘ (p. 116) and al-Haythamī in Majma‘ al-Zawā’id (10:120) – and Abū Sa‘d al-Wā‘īz. al-Naysābūrī in his book al-Wafā fī Sharaf al-Mus.t.afā according to Fayrūz Ābādī in the S.ilāt (p. 87).

In the matter of du‘ā’ the Prophet  gave leeway to his Umma to invoke in the manner, quality, and quantity one desires, without being restricted to a particular wording. This is especially true when invoking blessings on him, which he stressed and encouraged even if it replaced all other du‘ās one might make. Following such a Prophetic recommendation never contradicts the Sunna, even if the most superior wordings are those that are conveyed from him, such as the S.alāt Ibrāhīmiyya in the second tashahhud.

In fact, the variegation of formulas of invocation of blessings on the Prophet  is a desirable thing when invoking much blessings upon him as we are ordered to do, because such variegation helps us to obey this command and replenish our energies without becoming bored.

In addition, practicing S.alawāt on the Prophet  causes unlimited benefits, openings of spiritual meanings – such as seeing the Holy Prophet  in dream or awake! – and progress in the path to Allāh Most High and His good pleasure. Hence the Ulema competed in recording the h.adīths on the merits of invoking blessings on the Prophet  as well as whatever formulas of blessings and peace Allāh inspired them. These h.adīths and devotions were recorded in the following books among others: [I have marked the volumes I have read in part or in whole with an asterisk]

The upshot of the above discussion is that the words “wal-darajat al-rafī‘a” and “wa-rzuqnā shafā‘atahu yawma al-qiyāma” are neither “alien to the sunnah” nor the handiwork of “unscrupulous malbelievers.” One that claims such a thing not only commits ghuluw – exaggeration – but risks dire consequences in his Religion by dismissing and bad-mouthing meanings that were certainly meant and wordings that may well have been used by the Prophet , and were certainly used by numerous major Masters of H.adīth and others of the early and later Salaf and Friends of Allāh.

And Allāh knows best. May Allāh protect us from the slip of the tongue; cure any sickness in our hearts with regard to the Holy Prophet Muh.ammad – upon him and his Family blessings and peace; protect us from a bad end; grant His Prophet the highest rank; and grant us his intercession! Āmīn.

Hajj Gibril

Fasting: Why Stop Eating 10 Minutes Before?
I have a question regarding when to start fasting. Most books of fiqh seem to state that the wajib time to begin fasting is at the true dawn (when the second adhan in pronounced). I have noticed that many Hanafi fasting calendars (and the calendars in Shafi'i Malaysia) require people to stop fasting 10 minutes before the true dawn. What is the reason for this? Is it simply a way of protecting the fasters from falling into the true dawn?

Walaikum assalam,

This is not a ‘requirement’ but, rather, a recommendation, for the reason you mentioned.

It is recommended to delay the pre-dawn meal to the last part of the night, before fajr, but to stop before about 10 minutes (the extent of reciting 50 verses), because of the hadith of Zayd ibn Thabit regarding this in Bukhari and Muslim.

It is mentioned in Bukhari and Muslim, from Zaid ibn Thabit, “We had the pre-dawn meal with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace), and then we got up to pray." The sub-narrator said, 'I asked, "How much time was there between the two?" He [Zaid] said, "50 verses."

There are other hadiths about this. But they do not indicate obligation. Rather, recommendation, by agreement, with the reasoning being not to enter a time in which there is doubt whether fajr has come in or not. [Nawawi, Majmu` 6.406; Ibn Qudama, Mughni 3.2127; Ibn al-Humam, Fath al-Qadir 2.374-375; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Buhuti, Kashshaf al-Qina` 2.331]

And Allah knows best.

Walaikum assalam, Faraz Rabbani

Bi HamdikaYa Ilahi
God, I begin by thanking You
And turn to You in humility
If You do not grant me forgiveness for my sins
Who else can?
For You are our generous Lord
I have entrusted my fate to Your supremeness
Save me, my Lord, and grant me happiness
You know my intimate secrets as well as my outward acts
You are compassionate and merciful
(Sufi Liturgy of the Great Ummayad Mosque of Damascus)
Calling on Allah: Give me light!
Khwajah 'Abdallah Ansari, said in his Supplications (Munajat):

I live only to do Thy will,
My lips move only in praise of Thee
O Lord, whoever becometh aware of Thee
Casteth out all else other than Thee.
O Lord, give me a heart
That I may pour it out in Thanksgiving
Give me life
That I may spend it
In working for the salvation of the world.
O Lord, give me understanding
That I stray not from the path
Give me light
To avoid pitfalls.
O Lord, give me eyes
Which see nothing but Thy glory.
Give me a mind
That finds delight in Thy service.
Give me a soul
Drunk in the wine of Thy wisdom.

Gathering of Dzikir
When is Allah not happy with his Servant? It is when His servant becomes annoyed at the length of the gathering of Dhikr. If his love for Allah were true, it would be like the blink of an eye."
(from the saying of Shaykh Muhammad Effendi al-Yaraghi, may Allah sanctify his soul)

Wisdom taken from the Holy Quran Majeed
The Most Selfish One-Letter Word "I" Avoid It (Surah Al Kahf 18:34)
The Most Satisfying Two-Letter Word "WE" Use It Surah Al An'am 6:71-72
The Most Poisonous Three-Letter Word "EGO" Kill It Surah Al Qasas 28:78
The Most Used Four-Letter Word "LOVE" Value It (Surah Al Rum 30:21)

Ten Days Allah Swore By The First Ten Days of Dhu'l Hijjah
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
The first ten days of Dhu’l Hijjah (which start on Monday or Tuesday, depending where you are) are blessed days: Allah Most High Himself swore by them in the Qur’an:
“By the Dawn, and the Ten Nights...”
[Qur’an, Surat al-Fajr, 89.1-2]
The commentators generally concur that the ten nights refers, ‘the first ten days of Dhu’l Hijjah,’ as one may find in Shaykh al-Islam Abu Su`ud’s Irshad al-`Aql al-Salim ila Mazaya al-Qur’an al-Karim [famous as Tafsir Abi al-Su`ud, 9.153] or in Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
Imam Ahmad and Nasa’i report from the Mother of Believers, Sayyida Hafsa (Allah be pleased with her) that, “The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) did not leave four matters: Fasting `Ashura [10th of Muharram], [during] the ten days [of Dhu’l Hijja], and three days of each month.”
1. Fasting the First Nine Days, Especially the Day of `Arafah (9th)
The scholars concur that it is recommended to fast during the first nince days of Dhu’l Hijja. (The tenth day is the day of Eid, and is prohitively disliked and sinful to fast this day.) [Buhuti, Kashshaf al-Qina`; Nawawi, Majmu`; Fatawa Hindiyya; Haskafi, Durr al-Mukhtar; Dardir, al-Sharh al-Saghir]
Of these, it is particularly recommended to fast the Day of `Arafah [9th of Dhu’l Hijjah], even for the one on Hajj in the Hanafi school, if it does not weaken the pilgrim from spending the day busy in worship. [Haskafi, Durr; Kasani, Bada’i`]
As for hadiths in which the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) commanded against fasting this day for the pilgrim at `Arafah, this was understood by the Hanafi imams to refer to those whom it would weaken or tire. [As explained by Imam Tahawi in Sharh Ma`ani al-Athar, 2.82-83]
This is because of the numerous hadiths that have come in praise of this day in particular and fasting in it. Among these is:
Abu Qatada (Allah be pleased with him) related that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him, his family, and companions) said, “Fasting the Day of `Arafah [9th of Dhu’l Hijjah] expiates for two years, one prior and one forthcoming. And fasting the Day of `Ashura [10th of Muharram] expiates for the past year.” [Reported by Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah]
2. Increasing One’s Spiritual Works During these Ten Days
Similarly, it is recommended to busy oneself these days with worship of Allah. Imam Sharaf al-Din al-Hijjawi, the great Hanbali faqih, states in his primary text, al-Iqna`,:

“It is recommend to excert oneself in good works during the first ten days of Dhu’l Hijjah, such as remembrance of Allah (dhikr), fasting, charity, and other righteous actions, because they are the best of days.” [Buhuti, Kashshaf al-Qina`, 2.60]
This is confirmed by scholars of all the Sunni madhhabs. [Ibn Nujaym, al-Bahr al-Ra’iq; Haskafi/Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar `ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar; Nawawi, al-Majmu` and others]
Many scholars even stated that daytimes of these ten days are more virtuous than the ten daytimes of the last ten days of Ramadan, because of the strength of the primary texts related to them.
3. Spending the Nights of These Days In Prayer and Worship
It is especially recommended to spend some part of each of the nights of these ten days in prayer and worship. [Nawawi, Majmu`; Ibn Qudama, Mughni; Dardir, al-Sharh al-Saghir; Ibn Nujaym, al-Bahr al-Ra’iq; al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya; Ibn Abidin/Haskafi, Radd al-Muhtar `ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar]
This was deduced by clear primary texts, such as Prophet’s words (Allah bless him and give him peace) that, “There are no days in which good works are more beloved to Allah than these days – meaning the first ten days of Dhu’l Hijjah.” The Companions asked, ‘Not even jihad in the path of Allah, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said (Allah bless him & give him peace), “Not even jihad in the path of Allah, except for the one who goes forth with his person and wealth and does not return with any of it.” [Bukhari and others]
May Allah give us success in these blessed days and nights, and in every moment of our lives, to follow the path of the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace), and may He make us of those whom He loves and who love Him.
Walaikum assalam,Faraz Rabbani
Raising the Hands for Ruku
Why don’t Hanafis raise their hands when going into ruku or raising their heads from ruku`?
Isn’t this against the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who said, ‘Pray as you have see me pray.’ ??
The correct position ibn the Hanfi school is to only lift the hands at the opening takbir and then not to lift them again. [Haskafi/Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar `ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, 1.340, Bulaq ed.]

This is well established throught the hadiths of great Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) like 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar and many others (Allah have mercy on them). Likewise this is also the position of the Maliki school.

The following may be usefull to understand this is issue more clearly.

[Excerpted from ‘Chapter 5: Raising the Hands for Ruku’ from the third edition of Fiqh al-Imam, which explains the evidence for important legal positions of the Hanafi school, soon to be published by White Thread Press

Raising the Hands for Ruku
The Differences Found in the Narrations

The hadiths regarding raising the hands are of three types:

(1) There are those which clearly mention that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) raised his hands at the time of bowing [ruku‘].

(2) Secondly, there are those which mention that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) never raised his hands except when uttering the opening takbir [tahrima].

(3) And thirdly, there are those hadiths which describe the complete prayer of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), but do not mention whether or not he raised his hands after the opening takbir.

The hadiths of the first category stand as evidence for group one, those whose opinion is of raising the hands; whereas the second category of hadiths stand as evidence for those whose opinion is not to raise the hands. Although the hadiths of the first category seem to outnumber those of the second, this does not mean anything, because the hadiths of the third category could also be used in conjunction with the second as evidence for not raising the hands. The reason for this is that not mentioning something only proves that it was not a popular practise. It is also very difficult to accept that while demonstrating the prayer of the Messenger e, a narrator could have failed to mention something as significant as raising the hands, had it been an important aspect of the prayer. Hence, by utilizing the hadiths of the third category as complimentary evidence for the second category, the hadiths in support of not raising the hands would actually outnumber those in support of it.

To elaborate further, it must be understood that the Messenger of Allah’s not raising his hands (Allah bless him & give him peace) is a nonexistent action, and people do not mention nonexistent actions in their conversations. For instance, if an individual returning home from the masjid, happened to fall down and hurt himself, the report would most certainly state, “He fell down,” since his falling down became an existent action (something that actually took place). On the other hand, if this same person arrived home without any accident, nobody would unduly remark, “He did not fall,” since this is a nonexistent action. It is just another one of several hundred other such actions that did not occur.

The case of these hadiths is similar because, since the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not raise his hands at all, the narrators did not report it. If it had been a regular practise of the Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace), which he had failed to observe at times, the narrator would certainly have mentioned it. This can be likened to the example of a person who has a fixed time for eating. If for some reason he failed to eat at that time, someone could remark that he did not eat, since eating at that time should have been an existent action for him, which did not occur. Nobody would comment on his not eating at any other time, since eating at other times is normally nonexistent for this person, and nonexistent actions are normally not mentioned. Now, the hadith of the third category do not mention anything about the raising of the hands being a habitual action of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace). As a result these hadiths can also be used as evidence with those of the second category for the Hanafi point of view. This would significantly increase the number of hadiths in favour of the Hanafi opinion, and outnumber the hadiths of the first category.

The Hadith on Raising the Hands

Group one normally presents the narrations of Ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with them) and Malik ibn al-Huwayrith (Allah be pleased with them)as their primary source of evidence, since both of these Companions have reported the raising of the hands at the time of bowing [ruku‘]. However, both of these Companions have also reported the raising of the hands regarding all the seven instances mentioned above. Group one has only accepted those narrations of the two Companions which mention that the Messenger e raised his hands at the opening takbir and when bowing, and have disregarded the other narrations.

The Hanafi scholars did not based their opinion on this type of narrations, but have rather based it on those reports whose narrators are consistent. Their primary source are the narrations of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (Allah be pleased with them)who states that the hands were raised at the initial takbir [al-tahrima] only, and not repeated at any other time in the prayer. All reports from him explain the same practise.

Now we come to the issue of the narrations of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, which are normally quoted by those who claim that the Messenger e frequently raised his hands in salat. It is well known that Imam Malik received many narrations from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him and his father) . In fact, his famous chain which runs through Nafi‘ to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him), and is well known as “the golden chain” [silsilat al-dhahab]. However, in this issue, Imam Malik did not base his opinion on these narrations, but rather adopted the narrations of Ibn Mas‘ud(Allah be pleased with them)instead, and gave preference to the practise [ta‘amul] of the people of Madina which was to raise the hands at the initial takbir only.

Secondly, Ibn Abi Shayba and Imam Tahawi have narrated another hadith of Ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him and his father) through Mujahid, in which again there is no mention of raising the hands. If this was a constant practise of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), then why was it not mentioned in this narration?

Furthermore, although there are many hadiths of Ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him and his father) regarding the raising of the hands, there are many inconsistencies found in them. Such confusion in the reports of a narrator, will not allow his narrations to be adopted in the presence of other reports which are more precise and consistent. For example, in one of his narrations, which is mentioned in Imam Tahawi’s Mushkil al-Athar, it states that the hands were raised at every movement of the prayer, whereas in his other narrations, this is not mentioned.

The Hadith on Not Raising the Hands

We will now present the narrations of various Companions, including those of Ibn ‘Umar t, which state that the Messenger e raised his hands for the opening takbir only.

Should I not demonstrate the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) for you? He performed the prayer, and did not raise his hands except at the initial takbir (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 1:59, Sunan al-Nasa’i 1:161, Sunan Abi Dawud 1:116).

Imam Tirmidhi classifies this hadith as sound [hasan]. ‘Allama ibn Hazm classifies it as rigorously authenticated [sahih] (al-Muhalla 4:88), and ‘Allama Ahmad Muhammad Shakir, rejecting the criticism of some scholars, writes in his commentary of Sunan al-Tirmidhi, “This hadith has been authenticated by Ibn Hazm and other hadith masters [huffaz], and whatever has been stated about it containing defects is incorrect.” It is mentioned in the al-Jawhar al-naqi that its narrators are those of Sahih Muslim” (I‘la’ al-sunan 3:45).

Should I not inform you of the Messenger of Allah’s (Allah bless him & give him peace)prayer?” He stood up and raised his hands at the outset and did not do so again (Sunan al-Nasa’i 1:158, I‘la’ al-sunan 3:48).

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) would raise his hands at the opening takbir, then would not raise them again (Sharh Ma‘ani ‘l-athar 224).

4. ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (Allah be pleased with them) narrates:

I performed prayer with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him and his father) . They did not raise their hands except at the beginning of prayer (Nasb al-raya 1:526, Majma‘ al-zawa’id 2:101).

Judging from the above hadiths, it can be concluded quite easily that the Messenger e did not raise his hands regularly during the course of prayer. Ibn Mas‘ud, ‘Ali and other Companions (Allah be pleased with them) would never have narrated such reports had they observed the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the Caliphs [khulafa’] regularly raising their hands? It has also been observed that all the narrations of Ibn Mas‘ud (Allah be pleased with them) are consistent in that they relate the hands being raised only at the beginning of prayer and not at any other instance.

Finally ‘Urwa ibn Murra states:

When I entered the masjid [mosque] of Hadramawt, I heard ‘Alqama ibn Wa’il narrate from his father that the Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace) would raise his hands before and after the bowing posture. I mentioned this to Ibrahim al-Nakh‘a (Allah have mercy on him) who responded angrily, “Is Wa’il ibn Hujr the only one to have seen the Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace)? Didn’t Ibn Mas‘ud (Allah be pleased with him) and his companions also see him?” (Muwatta Imam Muhammad 92).

Wassalam
Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf

AL-BUSIRI'S POEM IN PRAISE OF THE PROPHET ENTITLED
QASIDAT AL-BURDA
Excerpted from Encyclopedia of Islamic Doctrine, by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, 1998
What is the position of Ahl al-Sunna regarding Qasida al-Burda, which is read in full by millions of people and Islamic scholars from the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and North Africa?
Can we continue reading and reciting it as we have been taught by the scholars that we know?
What is the position of Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Wahhab regarding that poem?
Chapter One: THE GREATNESS OF QASIDAT AL-BURDA
Sharaf al-Din Muhammad al-Busiri's (608-696?) illustrious poem, al-Kawakib al-durriyya fi madh khayr al-bariyya (The resplendent stars in the praise of the Best of Creation), which became known as Qasidat al-Burda, is one of the literary treasures of the Arabic language. It is a model of true and excellent praise for the Prophet, which contains the rarest pearls and lessons on the etiquette of humility and respect before the Elect One of creation and the Beloved of the Lord of the worlds.
This poem was taught, copied, distributed, recited, transcribed on mosque walls, memorized, commented on, studied, and considered required reading by countless scholars, including the hadith masters Sakhawi and Suyuti, and their students. Hafiz Abu Shama wrote a commentary on it that is yet unpublished. Ibn Taymiyya, in the book attributed to him under the title al-Sarim al maslul `ala shatim al-rasul (The drawn sword against those who disrespect the Prophet), said:
The foundation of the religion of Islam is built on praising, glorifying, and treating with dignity the Leader of all the Prophets, may peace be upon them all. Such praise, glorification, and treating with dignity is praise for the entire Religion; and its removal is the end of the Religion. By not giving such respect to the Prophet, all religion comes to an end.
Below is a translation of some of the most beautiful verses of that poem, followed by a refutation of the false views cast against them by the "Salafis."

EXCERPTS FROM IMAM AL-BUSIRI'S QASIDAT AL-BURDA
26. astaghfirullaha min qawlin bila `amalin / laqad nasabtu bihi naslan li dhi `uqumi
I ask Allah's forgiveness for talk without deeds, for I have thereby claimed an offspring for one who is seedless.
27. amartuka al-khayra lakin ma atmartu bihi / wa mastaqamtu fa ma qawli lakastaqimi
I ordered you to do good deeds, but I did not follow that order. I have not been upright. What value have my words to you: Be upright?
28. wa la tazawwadtu qabla al-mawti nafilatan / wa lam usalli siwa fardin wa lam asumi
I did not make provision of supererogatory deeds before death. I did not pray or fast beyond what is obligatory.
29. zalamtu sunnata man ahya al-zalama ila / an ishtakat qadamahu al-durra min warami
Verily, I have wronged the Way of him who kept awake in the dark night, praying until his feet complained of their swelling,
30. wa shadda min shaghabin ahsha'ahu wa tawa / tahta al-hijarati kishhan mutrafa al-adami
Who bound up his entrails due to hunger, and girded beneath stones his delicate flank,
31. wa rawadathu al-jibalu al-shummu min dhahabin / `an nafsihi fa araha ayyata shamami
Whom lofty mountains endeavored to turn from himself with offerings of gold, whereupon he showed them greater loftiness,
32. wa akkadat zuhdahu fiha daruratuhu / inna al-darurata la ta`du `ala al-`isami
And what confirmed that he renounced them was his necessity. Verily, necessity has no sway over those made immune by Allah;
33. wa kayfa tad`u ila al-dunya daruratu man / lawlahu lam tukhraji al-dunya min al-`adami
And how could necessity attract to the world the one were it not for whom the world would not have come out of inexistence?
34. muhammadun sayyidu al-kawnayni wa al-thaqalay / ni wa al-fariqayni min `urbin wa `ajami
Muhammad – Master of the Two Worlds, and of the Two Dense Kinds [human and jinn], and of the Two Branches, Arabs and non-Arabs,
35. nabiyyuna al-amiru al-nahi fa la ahadun / abarra fi qawli la minhu wa la na`ami
Our Prophet – who commands and forbids. None is more truthful in saying No or Yes.
36. huwa al-habibu al-ladhi turja shafa`atuhu / li kulli hawlin min al-ahwali muqtahimi
He is the Beloved whose intercession is dearly sought against every terror's onslaught.
37. da`a ilallahi fal-mustamsikuna bihi / mustamsikuna bi hablin ghayri munfasimi
He called unto Allah. Those who take hold of him have grasped a rope that shall never break.
38. faqa al-nabiyyina fi khalqin wa fi khuluqin / wa la yudanuhu fi `ilmin wa la karami
He surpasses all Prophets in form and character. None of them approaches his knowledge or generosity.
39. wa kulluhum min rasulillahi multamisun / gharfan min al-bahri wa rashfan min al-diyami
All of them come and take from Allah's Messenger a handful of his ocean or a sip of his continuous rains.
40. wa waqifuna ladayhi `inda haddihim / min nuqtati al-`ilmi aw min shaklat al-hikami
They stand before him – each at his limit – possessing but one dot of his science and a glimpse of his wisdom.
41. fa huwa al-ladhi tamma ma`nahu wa suratuhu / thumma istafahu habiban bari'u al-nasami
He is the one whose innermost and outward form were made perfect, after which the Creator of souls took him for His Beloved Friend.
42. munazzahun `an sharikin fi mahasinihi / fa jawharu al-husni fihi ghayru munqasimi
He is exalted above having a partner in his excellent qualities. The essence of his beauty was made indivisible.
43. da` ma idda`athu al-nasara fi nabiyyihim / wahkum bi ma shi'ta madhan fihi wa ihtakimi
Put aside what the Christians have claimed of their Prophet; then pronounce what you will in praise of him, and be wise;
44. fansub ila dhatihi ma shi'ta min sharafin / wansub ila qadrihi ma shi'ta min `izami
And attribute to his person whatever nobility you will, and ascribe to his worth whatever greatness you will,
45. fa inna fadla rasulillahi laysa lahu / haddun fa yu`riba `anhu natiqun bi fami
For the superiority of Allah's Messenger has no limit that a speaker can express with his mouth.
46. law nasabat qadruhu ayatuhu `izaman / ahya ismuhu hina yud`a darisa al-rimami
If his signs had matched his worth, the mere utterance of his name would have brought back to life the dust that once was bones;
47. lam yamtahinna bima ta`ya al-`uqulu bihi / hirsan `alayna fa lam nartab wa lam nahimi
But he did not test us with what makes impotent the minds, out of great concern for us, so that we should not doubt nor become perplexed.
48. a`ya al-wara fahmu ma`nahu fa laysa yura / li al-qurbi wa al-bu`di minhu ghayra munfahimi
Creation is, in truth, powerless to understand his secret. You will not see any near him or far, except it makes them bewildered,
49. ka al-shamsi tazharu li al-`aynayni min bu`din / saghiratan wa tukillu al-tarfa min amami
As the sun appears small to the eyes from a distance, and yet exhausts their sight upon a second look.
50. wa kayfa yudriku fi al-dunya haqiqatahu / qawmun niyamun tasallaw `anhu bi al-hulumi
And how could one perceive his reality in this world, who belongs to a sleeping race distracted from him with dreams?
51. fa mablaghu al-`ilmi fihi annahu basharun / wa annahu kharyu khalqillahi kullihimi
The sum of their knowledge concerning him is that he was a mortal, and that he was the best of all Allah's creation.
52. wa kullu ayin ata al-rusulu al-kiramu biha / fa innama ittasalat min nurihi bihimi
And every single sign brought by the noble Prophets was theirs only in connection to his light,
53. fa innahu shamsu fadlin hum kawakibuha / yuzhirna anwaraha li al-nasi fi al-zulami
For verily he is a sun of perfection of which they are the moons bringing its light to people in the midst of darkness.
54. akrim bi khalqi nabiyyin zanahu khuluqun / bi al-husni mushtamilin bi al-bishri muttasimi
How noble was the form of this Prophet adorned with a high character that encompassed beauty and was marked with cheerful countenance!
55. ka al-zahri fi tarafin wa al-badri fi sharafin / wa al-bahri fi karamin wa al-dahri fi himami
A form like the soft lilies and the full moon in splendor, a character like the ocean in generosity and Time in endeavors,
56. ka'annuhu wa huwa fardun fi jalalatihi / fi `askarin hina talqahu wa fi hashami
Seeming, due to his majesty, even when you met him alone, to head an army or a large company,
57. ka'annama al-lu'lu'u al-maknunu fi sadafin / min ma`dinay mantiqin minhu wa mubtasimi
As if the very pearl concealed inside the shell were formed in the two molds of his speech and his smile.
58. la tiba ya`dilu turban damma a`zumahu / tuba li muntashiqin minhu wa multathimi
There is no fragrance equal to the earth that encloses his bones. Blessed is he that breathes its scent and kisses it.
145. in ati dhanban fa ma `ahdi bi muntaqidin / min al-nabiyyi wa la habli bi munsarimi
If I commit a sin, my covenant is not broken away from the Prophet, nor is my connection to him cut,
146. fa inna li dhimmatan minhu bi tasmiyati / muhammadan wa huwa awfa al-khalqi bi al-dhimami
For I hold a bond from him in my being named Muhammad, and he is the most trustworthy one in creation in keeping his bonds,
147. in lam yakun fi ma`adi akhidhan bi yadi / fadlan wa illa fa qul ya zallata al-qadami
And if he were not, on the day of my return to Allah, to take my hand out of munificence, then you may say of me: the foot will slip!
148. hashahu an yuhrima al-raji makarimahu / aw yarji`a al-jaru minhu ghayra muhtarimi
Far be it from him to deprive the petitioner of his graces. Far be it from him that the seeker of refuge return from his presence discomfited.
149. wa mundhu alzamtu afkari mada'ihahu / wajadtuhu li khalasi khayra multazimi
Yea, since I devoted my thoughts to praising him, I have found him the best of contractors for my deliverance.
150. wa lan yafuta al-ghina minhu yadan taribat / inna al-haya yunbitu al-azhara fi al-akami
Wealth from him will never fail the hands that became destitute – verily, the rain makes flowers grow even on rugged hills –
151. wa lam urid zahrata al-dunya al-lati iqtatafat / yada zuhayrin bi ma athna `ala harimi
But I do not desire the splendor of this world, which the hands of Zuhayr seized when he praised Harim, the King.
152. ya akrama al-khalqi ma li man aludhu bihi / siwaka `inda hululi al-hadithi al-`amami
O noblest one in creation, I have none from whom to request protection other than you when the Universal Event befalls.
153. wa lan yadiqa rasulallahi jahuka bi / idha al-karimu tajalla bi ismi muntaqimi
Your great standing, O Messenger of Allah, will not diminish for advocating me, if the Generous One manifests Himself with His name of Avenger,
154. fa inna min judika al-dunya wa darrataha / wa min `ulumika `ilma al-lawhi wa al-qalami
For your generosity encompasses both this world and the one that comes next, and your sciences encompass the knowledge of the Tablet and the Pen.
155. ya nafsi la taqnati min zallatin `azumat / inna al-kaba'ira fi al-ghufrani ka al-lamami
O my soul! Do not despair because of a terrible footslip. Grave sins, under the covering of forgiveness, are as small ones.
156. la`alla rahmata rabbi hina yaqsimuha / ta'ti `ala hasabi al-`isyani fi al-qasami
It may be that my Lord's mercy, when He distributes it, shall match the transgressions in proportion.
157. ya rabbi wa ij`al raja'i ghayra mun`akisin / ladayka wa ij`al hisabi ghayra munkharimi
O my Lord! Do not let my hope be reversed in Your presence, and let not my account be deemed deficient,
158. waltuf bi `abdika fi al-darayni inna lahu / sabran mata tad`uhu al-ahwalu yanhazimi
And be kind to Your servant in the Two Abodes, for his is a kind of fortitude which calamities hail and overcome,
159. wa'dhan li suhbi salatin minka da'imatin / `ala al-nabiyyi bi munhalli wa munsajimi
And grant showerings of blessings from You upon the Prophet, copious and continuous!
160. thumma al-rida `an abi bakrin wa `an `umarin / wa `an `aliyyin wa `an `uthmana dhi al-karami
And may Allah's good pleasure be with Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Ali, and `Uthman the noble one,
161. wa al-ali wa al-sahbi thumma al-Tabi`ina lahum / ahli al-tuqa wa al-nuqa wa al-hilmi wa al-karami
And with the Family of the Prophet and his Companions, and their Successors the People of Godwariness and Purity and Kindness and Nobility
162. ma rannahat `adhabat al-bani rihu saban / wa atraba al-`isa hadi al-`isi bi al-naghami
As long as the gentle Eastern wind waves the stalks of the moringa-tree, and the camel-leader enlivens the camel with his songs.
163. ya rabbi bi al-mustafa balligh maqasidana / wa ighfir lana ma mada ya wasi`a al-karami
O my Lord! with the Elect One make us attain our goals, and forgive us for what has passed, O Most Munificent One!
164. wa ighfir ilahi li kulli al-muslimina bi ma / yatluhu fi al-masjidi al-aqsa wa fi al-harami
And forgive, O my God, all Muslims who recite this in the Farthest Mosque and the Holy Sanctuary,
165. bi jahi man baytuhu fi tibatin harami / wa ismihu qasamun min a`zami al-qasami
For the Honor and sake of the one whose house lies in the verdant sacrosanct land, and whose name is one of the greatest oaths.
Maulana Shaykh Nazim (q) said, “A man may have one dollar. He will give away fifty cents. If he has ten dollars, he will give ten cents. If he has one-thousand dollars, he will give nothing! As riches grow, so does greed.”
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
“Had I not feared hardship for my Community, I would have ordered them to brush their teeth (siwak) for every prayer.”
[Bukhari and Muslim]
He also said (peace and blessings be upon him) that,
“Brushing one’s teeth cleans the mouth and pleases the Lord.”
[Bukhari]
And he said (peace and blessings be upon him),
“Cleanliness is half of faith.”
[Muslim]
It is recommended that the toothstick (siwak) be firm, but moist, and that it not be dry, in order not to harm the gums.
1. In Bada’i` al-Sana’i` it states that, “It is permitted to use a wet or dry toothstick (siwak).” [1.19]
2. In the Fatawa Hindiyya it states among the recommendations regarding the toothstick (siwak) that it be moistened. [1.7]
3. In Radd al-Muhtar of Ibn Abidin, it quotes al-Siraj stating that it is recommended that the toothstick (siwak) not be dry in order not to harm the gums. [1.115]
And Allah alone gives success. Wassalam, Faraz Rabbani
Just One
Shaykh Nazhim," asked a murid, "when you said that there were countless Adams before us, were there also countless Muhammads?"
"Just one," answered the Shaykh.

The secret of this Tariqa is based on these five lata'if (Subtle Things), the Stations of the heart.

"There are five stations of the Heart: Qalb, sirr, sirr as-sirr, Khafa and Ahkfa.
Qalb is the Heart,
sirr is the Secret,
sir as-sirr is the Secret of the Secret,
Khafa is the Hidden, and
Ahkfa the Most Hidden.

1- Latifat al-Qalb, the stage of the Heart,
§ Ilmiya =All Knowledge Enters
§ Sense = Hearing
§ YA Sayed = Saliheen
§ Under the authority of Sayyidina Adam (s), because it represents the physical aspect of the heart.
§ Color: { The light of the Heart is a yellow hue}
§ 6th Sense = Knowledge . Heart everything goes in. even shaytan, the devil goes gossiping, The first one, which is on the top, is the surat al`Ilmiyya. The picture of knowledge. The scientific knowledge. The first is where all knowledge comes in.
§ Pillar of Islam:
§ Which Salat:
§ .
§ .
§ .
§ .
§
2- Latifat as-sirr, the station of the Secret,
§ Ruhiyya = Spirituality
§ Sense = Seeing
§ 6th Sense = Spiritual Vision foresight
§ Ya Sahib = Shuhada Witnessing
§ Under Sayyidina Nuh (s), because it is the Vessel which is saved from the Ocean of Darkness, salvation from the flood of ignorance.
§ Color: {the light of the Secret is red}
§ [Then secret, that is the reality of mushada. Of hearing and seeing. is where all spiritual vision comes in. when you have the ilm and the vision, what do you achieve perfection, mithaaliyya. Next level]
§ Pillar of Islam:
§ Which Salat:
§

3- Latifat Sirr as-Sirr, the station of the Secret of the Secret,
§ Mithaliya= Spiritual Perfection Yagin Certainty
§ Sense = Touch
§ 6th Sense = Subtlety of Soul
§ Ya Sadiq = Siddiqiun
§ Under two prophets: Ibrahim (s) and Musa (s), who represent Allah's Divine Presence on Earth. Allah made Ibrahim (s) the symbol of all His Khalifs on this Earth, as mentioned in the ayat of the creation of mankind, inna jacilun fi-l-ar i khalafa [2:30]. Musa (s) was blessed with hearing and speaking to Allah which are the two essential attributes of knowledge.
§ Color: { light of the Secret of the Secret is white}
§ [secret is sirr as-sirr, secret of secrets, the haqiqat of hearing and seeing. First ilm al-yaqeen, then ayn al-yaqeen then Haqq al-yaqeen . threerd surat al-Mithaliya. Perfect picture When you reach this, you achieve perfection, you end up with a balanced good physical composite of pictures. Souls perfection taking you to Physical Perfection. Best of all Creation Sayedena Muhammad(AS). He has the knowledge and the vision. That is alam al-mithaal. The world or realm of the highest understanding, above your normal, what you achieve in spirituality]
§ Pillar of Islam:
§ Which Salat:

4- "Latifat al-Khafa, the Hidden Station,
§ Jismiyya = Physical Perfection of a Human Insan Kamel
§ Sense = Smell
§ 6th Sense = Smell
§ Ya Nabi =Nabieen
§ Under Sayyidina ISA {Jesus} (s). Because of his relationship with Hidden Knowledge, he represents spiritual understanding.
§ Color: {the light of the Hidden Station is green}
§ Surat al-Jismiyya. Physical. Insan Kamel That is complete ideal perfection and ideal life. When souls perfection reflecting on physicality and physically becoming image of perfection. Muhammadiun
§ Pillar of Islam:
§ Which Salat:
]
5- "Latifat al-Ahkfa, the Most Hidden Station,
§ Dhatiyaa = Essence
§ Sense = Taste
§ 6th Sense = Taste Haqiqat
§ YA Allah= Allah , Huwa
§ Reality of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), because he was granted a station high above that of all other prophets and messengers. He was the one who was raised up, in the Night of Ascension, to the Divine Presence. This is represented by the Kalima (Sacred Phrase), because there is no la ilaha illallah without Muhammadiun Rasul Allah.
§ Color: {the light of the Most Hidden Station is black}
§ [The fifth circle is the essence that inside circle, which connects the 4, as –Surat adh-dhaatiyya. The essence from which your dharra has been created and this relates directly to the unseen. Allah has the secret of creation in His hand. No one knows about that except Allah – the secret of creation. Most hidden. Ahkfa.]
§ Pillar of Islam:
§ Which Salat:

These Nine Points are located on the chest of each person and they represent nine different hidden states in every human being. Every state is connected to a saint, who has the authority to control that point.
"If the seeker in the Naqshbandi Way is able to unveil and to make spiritual contact with the authorized master controlling these points, he may be given knowledge of and power to use these nine points.
"The conditions related to opening these nine points can only be alluded to obliquely.
1. The first station involves the power of imprisoning the ego.
2. The key to the second state is Dhikr with la ilaha illallah.
3. The third state consists in witnessing the engraving of Allah's name on the heart (naqsh).
4. The fourth state relates to the meaning of that engraving on the heart.
5. The fifth state is to imprint the engraving with your dhikr.
6. In the sixth state the heart is made to stop pumping at will and to start pumping at will.
7. The seventh state is to be aware of the number of times one stops the heart from pumping and the number of times one restores the pumping of the heart.
8. In the eighth state one mentions the phrase Muhammadun Rasulullah in every cessation of the heart and every restoration of its pumping.
9. The ninth stage is to return to your Cave, as Allah mentioned in Surat al-Kahf, "When ye turn away from them and the things they worship other than Allah, betake yourself to the Cave: your Lord will shower His mercies on you..." [18:16].
"The Cave is the Divine Presence. Here one utters the cherished prayer of the Prophet: 'O God, You are my destination and Your Pleasure is what I seek.' The heart, as it cycles between the cessation and restoration of its pumping, is existing at the level of the Essence of the Divine Presence. Because that Divine Essence is the source of all created being, that heart will be at one with every minutest creation in this universe. The heart which has reached the secrets of the nine points will be able to see everything, hear everything, know everything, taste everything, sense everything, 'Until He will be the ears with which he hears, the eyes with which he sees, the tongue with which he speaks, the hand with which he grasps, and the feet with which he walks. He will be Lordly, he only need say to a thing Be! and it will be.'"
"Allah gave the authority to change the Fixed Destiny only to the Nine Saints who are at the highest level in the Divine Presence, by permission from the Prophet (s) who is first to take that power from Allah.
They control the Nine Points of human consciousness related to the different stages of the Ascent of an Individual on his path to the Divine Presence. Allah gave these Nine Saints, whose number has not changed from the time of the Prophet (s) until today, the power to use Sul an adh-dhikr, the Greatest Remembrance.
"Everyone knows that Dhikr is primarily the repetition of la ilaha illallah, and that is what is practiced by all tariqats, including the Naqshbandiyya. But the Sultan adh-dhikr is a completely different type of Dhikr.
"Allah said, Inna na nu nazzalna-dh-dhikra wa inna lahu la- afi an [15:9], "We have revealed the Dhikr, and we are the One to protect that Dhikr in you." The Dhikr mentioned here is the Holy Qur'an. The Dhikr of these nine saints, besides la ilaha illallah, is the Secret of the Holy Qur'an. They recite the Qur'an, not as we recite it reading from beginning to end, but they recite it with all its secrets and inner realities. Because Allah said, wa la ra bin wa la yabisin illa fa kitabin muban [6:59] "Nor is there anything fresh or dry but is inscribed in a clear Record." None of God's creations in all the created universes has not been mentioned already, with all its secrets, in the Clear Book, the Qur'an.

"The saint reciting the Qur'an in Sultan adh-Dhikr is therefore reciting it with all the secrets of every creation, from beginning to end. Allah gave every letter of the Qur'an, according to the Nine Highest Masters of the Naqshbandi Order [this was the first time the Shaykh ever mentioned this secret], twelve thousand knowledges. The Qur'an contains around 600,000 letters, so for every letter, these saints are able to take 12,000 knowledges!
"Each of these nine saints differs from the other in his level as well. We may see that one of them, for example, was able to recite the Holy Qur'an by the power of Sultan adh-Dhikr, which is to grasp 12,000 meanings on every letter, only once in his life. Another was able to recite it three times in his life. The third was able to do it nine times in his life. Another was able to recite it 99 times in his life.

"This secret differed from one saint to another.
1. Shah Naqshband (q) was able to do it 999 times in his life.
2. Our Master Ahmad al-Faruqi was able to recite it 9,999 times in his life.
3. Shaykh Sharafuddin was able to recite it 19,999 times."
4. Here Shaykh `Abdullah stopped. Shaykh Nazam said, "In every breath GrandShaykh `Abdullah Daghestani was exhaling with Sultan adh-Dhikr and inhaling with Sultan adh-Dhikr. He used to complete the secret of Qur'an twice in every breath."

Bismillah hir-Rahman ar-Raheem
O N E

One is without reason.
Everything needs a reason,
but One never needs it.

Every number has a reason
to be the number
it is.

Except One.
Every number is in need
for the number One,
but One never needs One.

Two needs One
to be two.
Three needs One
to be three.
One hundred needs One
to be one hundred.
Or it will be ninety-nine.

But One is without reason.

And if there is no One,
there is Zero.
There is nothing.

But if there is One,
everything is going to be
from it.

intellect

Mawlana Sheikh Mohammed Nazim Adil al-Haqqani al-Naqshbandi,Bismillah hir-Rahman ar-Raheem
In the Name of Almighty Allah, Most Merciful, Most
Compassionate

Do not remain a man of intellect among the Lovers,
especially if you Love that Sweet-Faced Beloved
(Sayyiduna Muhammad, SAWS).

May the men of "intellect" stay far from the Lovers,
may the smell of dung stay far from the east wind!

If a man of "intellect" should enter, tell him the way
is blocked; but if a Lover should come, extend him a
hundred welcomes!

By the time "intellect" has deliberated and reflected,
Love has flown to the Seventh Heaven.

By the time "intellect" has found a camel for the
hajj, Love has circled the Kaaba!

Love has come and covered my mouth:
"Throw away your poetry and come to the stars!"

--Ode 182
Translation by William C. Chittick
The Sufi Path of Love - The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi
State University of New York Press, Albany, 1983

The Prophet's Followers And Their Different Paths

By DAVID PRYCE-JONES

Stephen Schwartz describes himself as a child of California and, more than that, "a typical San Francisco student of mysticism." As a journalist, he spent much time in the 1990s in Albania and the former Yugoslavia. Serb atrocities in Bosnia and Kosovo seem to have accentuated a natural
disposition in him toward Islam, particularly the folk-Islam known as Sufism, much practiced in the Balkans. In "The Two Faces of Islam" he pointedly gives Sufi muftis the title of "His Excellency," and after their names he calls for the blessings of Allah to be on them, in pious Islamic style.

All would be well, so runs Mr. Schwartz's argument, if only spirituality had its way. The opening chapters of his book are a rhapsody to Islam. The Prophet Muhammad in this perspective was a thoughtful liberal. Verses in the Quran against unbelievers are to be discounted. Pluralism among Muslims, Mr. Schwartz writes, and civility toward other faiths, characterized 1,000 years
of Islam. Sufis held the key, he believes, and he loses no chance to attach to them adjectives like welcoming, passionate, pluralistic. For him the Ottoman Empire was a model society, and he credits Sufis for consolidating this last Muslim great power.

This idealization of Sufism has an appeal, but it obscures the conquests of mainstream and militant Islam, whose fusion of religion and politics is inherently absolute -- populations put to the sword, tribal violence and dynastic upheavals, religious intolerance as evidenced in the schism between
Sunnis and Shiites, as well as the persecution of everyone deemed heretical. There is no mention in the book that the Ottomans disposed of those they didn't like, including members of the Sultan's family, by tying them in a sack and dropping it into the Bosphorus. No mention of the press-ganging of Christian children, the massacres of Greeks or the Armenian genocide. It should not be necessary to add that Christian powers were comparable in cruelty and bloodshed.

Pluralistic, peace-loving and welcoming? Or intolerant and militant?

For much of the remainder of his book, Mr. Schwartz turns with rage on Muslims who disturb his ecstatic vision of Sufi Islam. In various times and places, he notes, influential men have preached that Muslims must live exclusively under Islamic law, and they have attacked Sufis and Shiites as
heretics and repudiated every Western idea. One of the most fanatical of all was Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who flourished in Arabia in the 18th century. Armed with his doctrine of exclusivity imposed by the sword, a tribal family, the al-Saud, carved out the kingdom of Saudi Arabia for themselves early in the 20th century. The British played a formative role in the birth of this country, out of an imperialist concern to dominate the Persian Gulf.

Their agent to the al-Saud was St. John Philby, at the time an official of the British foreign office, and Mr. Schwartz sees him as central to an Anglo-Arab conspiracy to transform the whole of Islam into "a community of Wahhabi fundamentalism." Personally dishonest, Philby was certainly a shady figure, but he does not merit Mr. Schwartz's description as one of the "most appalling figures of the 20th century." The discovery of oil in the 1930s gave Saudi Arabia money and power out of all proportion to its size and standing. Mr. Schwartz has no trouble showing
how the ruling al-Saud family, now at least 4,000 strong and altogether a mafia of princely parasites, hypocritically claims to be advancing Islam while in practice monopolizing the money and power that came to them fortuitously. Greed and vanity play a part, but more importantly the al-Saud continue to be driven by Wahhabism.

Previously only specialists have concentrated on this branch of Islam. Mr. Schwartz is the first commentator to bring its doctrine to public attention, along with the damage it does. All credit to him. Wahhabism aims first to subdue all Muslims to its extremism, then to confront unbelievers. It is a religious imperialism, totalitarian in conception, and Mr. Schwartz likens it to communism.
Just as once the Soviet Union built parties and secret cells abroad to further its expansion, so in the name of Wahhabism the members of the al-Saud dynasty sponsored Taliban and Pakistani extremists, intervened in the Balkans, recruited for the Chechens, and supported Saddam Hussein
against Iran. Today they finance violence against Israel, back the Islamists of Uzbekistan and the rest of Central Asia, and provide the inspiration and the funds for Osama bin Laden. Several leading Muslim organizations in the U.S. are in Wahhabi hands, fomenting separatism while expressing ambivalence about terrorism.

Ranging widely, Mr. Schwartz provides much valuable information and insight. The case against Saudi Arabia and its foreign policy is irrefutable, but Mr. Schwartz spoils his alternative vision of an idealized Islam by exaggerating or by passing over awkward facts. If Bosnia was always a Sufi paradise of peace, how come a Bosnian SS division fought for Hitler? Shiite Iran is opposed to Wahhabism, so Mr. Schwartz defends Iranian clerics as honest and peace-loving when they are notoriously corrupt and some of them mass-murderers. The U.S. has in the past protected Saudi Arabia, but this was out of ignorance and short-sightedness, not because, as Mr. Schwartz
seems to believe, the U.S. has replaced Britain as the willing tool of Wahhabi expansionism.

After the necessary regime change in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Schwartz hopes for a reconciliation of the Abrahamic faiths, with everyone listening to music and clasping hands in universal brotherhood. Yes, he's a San Francisco student of mysticism all right.

Mr. Pryce-Jones is the author of "The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs" (Ivan R. Dee). URL for this article:

The Night of Bara`ah
Another significant feature of the month of Sha`ban is that it consists of a night which is termed in Shari`ah as "Laylatul-bara`ah" (The night of freedom from Fire). This is the night occurring between 14th and 15th day of Sha`ban. Traditions of Prophet Muhammad (s), prove that it is a meritorious night in which the people of the earth are attended by special Divine mercy. We will be posting much more about this blessed night shortly.

What should be done in this night?
On the Holy Night of 15th Shaban, after Maghrib or Isha prayer it is traditional practice to read Surah Yasin three times, and after each time, read a special du`a with the following intentions:

1st reading the niyyat (intention) for should be for Long Life.
2nd reading the niyyat (intention) should be for Protection from Calamities.
3rd Reading the niyyat (intention) should be for not being needy to anyone except Allah.
It is very necessary that just as others observe this night, you observe it. To make an invitation to feed people on that night, to remember Allah (swt) and to remember His Prophet (s), and to fast its day and pray its night, will be rewarded for that night and for whoever observes it.
In order to observe the Night of Bara`ah, one should remain awakened in this night as much as he can. If someone has better opportunities, he should spend the whole night in worship and prayer. However, if one cannot do so for one reason or another, he can select a considerable portion of the night, preferably of the second half of it for this purpose, and should perform the following acts of worship: It is good to spend that night praying Salat ul-Khair, which conists of 100 raka`ts, in each raka`t reciting Sura al-Fatiha and 10 Surat Ikhlas. To complete the prayer one recites 1000 Sura Ikhlas.
The Night of Bara`ah is a night in which special blessings are directed towards the Muslims. Therefore, this night should be spent in total submission to Allah Almighty, and one should refrain from all those activities which may displease Allah.

Fast of the 15th Sha`ban
On the day immediately following the Night of Bara`ah, i.e. the 15th of Sha`ban, it is mustahabb (advisable) to keep fast. Prophet Muhammad (s), is reported to have recommended this fast emphatically. A large number of the predecessors (salaf) of the Ummah have been observing the fast of the 15th of Sha`ban.
Therefore, it is advisable to fast the 15th of Sha`ban as an optional (nafl) fast. One can also keep a fast of qada on this day and it is hoped that he can also benefit from the merits of this fast.
Bismil-Lah hir-Rahman ar-Raheem
The Legacy of Ataturk

"I asked the late Shaykh Muzaffar [Ozak] (wd. 1986), the Sufi master of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order of Turkey, as to what happened after the almost complete destruction of the Sufi Orders in Turkey by Kamal Ataturk. He paused, smiled and said, 'You look upon it as destruction. We look upon it
as slightly excessive grooming.' Then he continued, 'It is like chopping a grapevine to the ground. If he had chopped a little, the branches would have grown only a few meters away, but because he cut the whole grapevine to the ground, it will now grow all over the place. It is only a matter of time.

Allah says in the Qur`an, 'They desire to put out the light of Allah with their mouths, and Allah will not consent save to Perfect His Light, though the unbelievers are averse.' (Qur`an 9:32)."
Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri "THE ELEMENTS OF SUFISM"

Faqir, the secret action is seventy times better than the public action, as is reported in tradition. Allah knows best, but we think that the circle of dhikr which our brothers, the fuqara', hold publicly - standing and sitting,
in zawiyyas and in houses, in isolated places and inhabited places - is in the same position as the secret action since this age is an age of heedlessness. Heedlessness has overwhelmed people and taken hold of their
hearts and limbs. It has left them deaf, dumb and blind. They have no intellect. Fervour for the deen has suffered in a similar way, and thus making dhikr public and well-known is better than concealing it, especially
the circle of dhikr. It has great excellence and a clear secret since the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When you pass by one of the meadows of Paradise, graze there." He was asked, "Messenger of Allah, what are the meadows of Paradise?" "Circles of dhikr," he replied. And the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "There is no group of people who gather together to do dhikr of Allah, only desiring Allah's face by that, but that a caller calls to them from heaven, 'Arise forgiven! Your evil actions have been transformed into good actions.'" I told this to our brother in Allah, the Sufi scholar and sharif, Abu'l-'Abbas Sayyidi Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba al-Manjari, have Allah have mercy on him. He found it excellent and did not dislike it, may Allah be pleased with him.

The Inner Dimensions of Fasting
By Hujjat ul-Islam Imam al-Ghazali (may Allah be pleased with him)

Three Grades

It should be known that there are three grades of fasting: ordinary, special and extra-special. Ordinary Fasting means abstaining from food, drink and sexual satisfaction.
Special Fasting means keeping one's ears, eyes, tongue, hands and feet --and all other organs -- free from sin.

Extra-special Fasting means fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts, in total disregard of everything but Allah, Great and Glorious is He. This kind of Fast is broken by thinking of worldly
matters, except for those conducive to religious ends, since these constitute provision for the Hereafter and are not of this lower world. Those versed in the spiritual life of the heart have even said that a sin
is recorded against one who concerns himself all day with arrangements for breaking his Fast. Such anxiety stems from lack of trust in the bounty of Allah, Great and Glorious is He, and from lack of certain faith in His
promised sustenance.

To this third degree belong the Prophets, the true awliya and the intimates of Allah. It does not lend itself to detailed examination in words, as its true nature is better revealed in action. It consists in utmost dedication to Allah, Great and Glorious is He, to the neglect of everything other than Allah, Exalted is He. It is bound up with the significance of His words: 'Say: "Allah (sent it down)": then leave them to play in their vain discussions.' [al-An'am, 6:91]

Inward Requirements

As for Special Fasting, this is the kind practiced by the righteous. It means keeping all one's organs free from sin and six things are required for its accomplishment.

See Not What Displeases Allah

A chaste regard, restrained from viewing anything that is blameworthy or reprehensible, or that distracts the heart and diverts it from the remembrance of Allah, Great and Glorious is He. Said the Prophet, on him
be peace: 'The furtive glance is one of the poisoned arrows of Satan, on him be Allah's curse. Whoever forsakes it for fear of Allah will receive from Him, Great and Glorious is He, a faith the sweetness of which he will
find within his heart.' Jabir relates from Anas that Allah's Messenger, on him be peace, said: 'Five things break a man's Fast: lying, backbiting, gossiping, perjury and a lustful gaze.'

Speak Not...

Guarding one's tongue from idle chatter, lying, gossiping, obscenity, rudeness, arguing and controversy; making it observe silence and occupying it with remembrance of Allah, Great and Glorious is He, and with recitation of Quran. This is the fasting of the tongue. Said Sufyan: 'Backbiting annuls the Fast.' Layth quotes Mujahid as saying: 'Two habits annul Fasting: backbiting and telling lies.'

The Prophet, on him be peace, said: 'Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is Fasting he should not use foul or foolish talk. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say: "I am Fasting, I am Fasting!"' According to Tradition: 'Two women were Fasting during the time of Allah's Messenger, on him be peace. They were so fatigued towards the end of the day, from hunger and thirst, that they were on the verge of collapsing.

They therefore sent a message to Allah's Messenger, on him be peace, requesting permission to break their Fast. In response, the Prophet, on him be peace, sent them a bowl and said: "Tell them to vomit into it what they have eaten." One of them vomited and half filled the bowl with fresh blood and tender meat, while the other brought up the same so that they filled it between them. The onlookers were astonished. Then the Prophet, on him be peace, said: "These two women have been Fasting from what Allah made lawful to them, and have broken their Fast on what Allah, Exalted is He, made unlawful to them. They sat together and indulged in backbiting,
and here is the flesh of the people they maligned!"'

Hear Not...

Closing one's ears to everything reprehensible; for everything unlawful to utter is likewise unlawful to listen to. That is why Allah, Great and Glorious is He, equated the eavesdropper with the profiteer, in His words,
Exalted is He: 'Listeners to falsehood, consumers of illicit gain.' [al- Ma'idah, 5:42]

Allah, Great and Glorious is He, also said: 'Why do their rabbis and priests not forbid them to utter sin and consume unlawful profit?' [al-Ma'idah, 5:63]

Silence in the face of backbiting is therefore unlawful. Allah, Exalted is He, said: 'You are then just like them.' [al-Nisa, 4:140] That is why the Prophet, on him be peace, said: 'The backbiter and his listener are
copartners in sin.'

Do Not...

Keeping all other limbs and organs away from sin: the hands and feet from reprehensible deeds, and the stomach from questionable food at the time for breaking Fast. It is meaningless to Fast -- to abstain from lawful
food - only to break one's Fast on what is unlawful. A man who Fast like this may be compared to one who builds a castle but demolishes a city.

Lawful food injurious in quantity not in quality, so Fasting is to reduce the former. A person might well give up excessive use of medicine, from fear of ill effects, but he would be a fool to switch to taking poison.
The unlawful is a poison deadly to religion, while the lawful is a medicine, beneficial in small doses but harmful in excess. The object of Fasting is to induce moderation. Said the Prophet, on him be peace: 'How
many of those who Fast get nothing from it but hunger and thirst!' This has been taken to mean those who break their Fast on unlawful food. Some say it refers to those who abstain from lawful food, but break their Fast
on human flesh through backbiting, which is unlawful. Others consider it an allusion to those who do not guard their organs from sin.

Avoid Overeating

Not to over-indulge in lawful food at the time of breaking Fast, to the point of stuffing one's belly. There is no receptacle more odious to Allah, Great and Glorious is He, than a belly stuffed full with lawful food. Of what use is the Fast as a means of conquering Allah's enemy and abating appetite, if at the time of breaking it one not only makes up for all one has missed during the daytime, but perhaps also indulges in a variety of extra foods? It has even become the custom to stock up for Ramadan with all kinds of foodstuffs, so that more is consumed during that time than in the course of several other months put together. It is well known that the object of Fasting is to experience hunger and to check desire, in order to reinforce the soul in piety. If the stomach is starved from early morning till evening, so that its appetite is aroused and its craving intensified, and it is then offered delicacies and allowed to eat its fill, its taste for pleasure is increased and its force exaggerated; passions are activated which would have lain dormant under normal conditions.

The spirit and secret nature of Fasting is to weaken the forces which are Satan's means of leading us back to evil. It is therefore essential to cut down one's intake to what one would consume on a normal night, when not
Fasting. No benefit is derived from the Fast if one consumes as much as one would usually take during the day and night combined. Moreover, one of the properties consists in taking little sleep during the daytime, so that
one feels the hunger and thirst and becomes conscious of the weakening of one's powers, with the consequent purification of the heart. One should let a certain degree of weakness carry over into the night, making it easier to perform the (tahajjud) and to recite the praises (awrad). It may then be that Satan will not hover around one's heart, and that one will behold the Kingdom of Heaven. The Night of Destiny represents the night on which something of this Kingdom is revealed. This is what is meant by the words of Allah, Exalted is He:'We surely revealed it on the Night of Power.' [al-Qadr, 97:1]

Anyone who puts a bag of food between his heart and his breast becomes blind to this revelation. Nor is keeping the stomach empty sufficient to remove the veil, unless one also empties the mind of everything but Allah, Great and Glorious is He. That is the entire matter, and the starting point of it all is cutting down on food.

Look To Allah With Fear And Hope

After the Fast has been broken, the heart should swing like a pendulum between fear and hope. For one does not know if one's Fast will be accepted, so that one will find favor with Allah, or whether it will be rejected, leaving one among those He abhors. This is how one should be at the end of any act of worship one performs.

It is related of al-Hasan ibn Abil Hasan al-Basri that he once passed by a group of people who were laughing merrily. He said: 'Allah, Great and Glorious is He, has made the month of Ramadan a racecourse, on which His
creatures compete in His worship. Some have come in first and won, while others have lagged behind and lost. It is absolutely amazing to find anybody laughing and playing about on the day when success attends the
victors, and failure the wasters. By Allah, if the veil were lifted off, the doer of good would surely be preoccupied with his good works and the evildoer with his evil deeds.' In too full of joy to indulge in idle
sport, while for one who has suffered rejection laughter will be precluded by remorse.

Of al-Ahnaf ibn Qays it is reported that he was once told: 'You are an aged elder; Fasting would enfeeble you.' But he replied: 'By this I am making ready for a long journey, Obedience to Allah, Glorified is He, is easier to endure than His punishment.' Such are the inwardly significant meanings of Fasting.

When I saw his light shining forth, In fear I covered my eyes with my palms,
Afraid for my sight because of the beauty of his form.
So I was scarcely able to look at him at all.

The lights from his light are drowned in his light and his faces shines out like the sun and moon in one. A spirit of light lodged in a body like the moon,
a mantle made up of brilliant shining stars.

I bore it until I could bear it no longer.
I found the taste of patience to be like bitter aloes.
I could find no remedy to bring me relief
other than delighting in the sight of the one I love.

Even if he had not brought any clear signs with him,
the sight of him would dispense with the need for them.
Muhammad is a human being but not like other human beings.

Rather he is a flawless diamond and the rest of mankind is just stones.
Blessings be on him so that perhaps Allah may have mercy on us
on that burning Day when the Fire is roaring forth its sparks.

THE BOOK OF ASSISTANCE, IMAM AL-HADDAD
Chapter 19, On Fasting
Increase your good works, especially in Ramadan, for the reward of a supererogatory act performed during it equals that of an obligatory act performed at any other time. Ramadan is also a time when good works are rendered easy and one has much more energy for them than during any other
month. This is because the soul, lazy when it: comes to good works, is then imprisoned by hunger and thirst, the devils who hinder it are shackled, the gates of the Fire are shut, the gates of the Garden are open, and the herald calls every night at Allah’s command: ‘O you who wish for goodness, hasten! And O you who wish for evil, halt!’

You should work only for the hereafter in this noble month, and embark on something worldly only when absolutely nece ssary. Arrange your life before Ramadan in a manner which will render you free for worship when it arrives. Be intent on devotions and approach Allah more surely, especially during the last ten days. If you are able not to leave the mosque, except when strictly necessary, during those last ten days then do so. Be careful to perform the Tarawih prayers during every Ramadan night. In some places
it is nowadays the custom to make them so short that sometimes some of the obligatory elements of the prayer are omitted, let alone the sunnas. It is well known that our predecessors read the whole Qur’an during this prayer,
reciting a part each night so as to complete it on one of the last nights of the month. If you are able to follow suit then this is a great gain; if you are not, then the least that you can do is to observe the obligatory elements of the prayer and its proprieties.

Watch carefully for the Night of Destiny [Laylat’ul-Qadr], which is better than a thousand months. It is the blessed night in which all affairs are wisely decided. The one to whom it is unveiled sees the blazing lights, the open doors of heaven, and the angels ascending and descending, and may
witness the whole of creation prostrating before Allah, its Creator.

Most scholars are of the opinion that it is in the last ten nights of Ramadan, and is more likely to fall in the odd numbered ones. A certain gnostic witnessed it on the night of the seventeenth, and this was also the opinion of al-Hasan al-Basri. Some scholars have said that it is the first night of Ramadan, and a number of great scholars have said that it is not fixed but shifts its position each Ramadan. They have said that the secret wisdom underlying this is that the believer should devote himself completely to Allah during every night of this month in the hope of coincid ing with that night which has been kept obscure from him. And Allah knows best.

Hasten to break your fast as soon as you are certain that the sun has set. Delay suhur long as you do not fear the break of dawn. Feed those who fast at the time when they break it, even if with some dates or a draught of water, for the one who feeds another at the time of breaking the fast
receives as much reward as he without this diminishing the other’s reward in any way. Strive never to break your fast nor to feed anyone else at such a time except with lawful food. Do not eat much, take whatever lawful food is present, and do not prefer that which is tasty, for the purpose
of fasting is to subdue one’s lustful appetite, and eating a large quantity of delicious food will on the contrary arouse and strengthen it.

Fast on the days on which the Law encourages you to fast, such as the day of Arafat for those who are not participating n the pilgrimage, the ninth and tenth [‘Ashura] of Muharram, and the six days of Shawwal, starting
with the second day of the Feast, for this is the more effective discipline for the soul. Fast three days in each month, for these equal a perpetual fast. It is better if these are the White Days, for the Prophet, may blessings and peace be upon him, never omitted to fast them whether he was at home or traveling. Fast often, especially in times of special merit such as the Inviolable Months, and noble days such as Mondays and Thursdays. Know that fasting is the pillar of discipline and the basis of striving. It has been said that fasting constitutes half of fortitude. The Messenger of Allah, may blessings and peace be upon him, said: ‘Allah the Exalted has sai d: “All good deeds of the son of Adam are multiplied ten to seven hundredfold, except fasting, for it is Mine, and I shall reward a man for it, for he has left his appetite, his food and drink for My sake!”’ ‘The one who fasts has two joys, one when breaking his fast, the other when meeting his Lord.’ And; ‘The odour of the fasting man’s mouth is more fragrant to Allah than th at of musk.’

Allah says the truth and He guides to the way. [XXXIII:4]Courtesy of Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and Company:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hanafi/
November 18, 2002, 8:45 a.m.
The Good & the Bad Stephen Schwartz on Islam and Wahhabism.
From "The National Review"

http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/interrogatory111802.asp

A Q&A by Kathryn Jean Lopez

Stephen Schwartz, an author and journalist, is author of The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from
Tradition to Terror. A vociferous critic of Wahhabism, Schwartz is a frequent contributor to National Review,
The Weekly Standard, and other publications.

Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is Wahhabism?

Stephen Schwartz: Wahhabism is an extremist, puritanical, and violent movement that emerged, with
the pretension of "reforming" Islam, in the central area of Arabia in the 18th century.
It was founded by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who formed an alliance with the house of Saud, in which religious
authority is maintained by the descendants of al-Wahhab and political power is held by the descendants of al-Saud: This is the Wahhabi-Saudi axis, which continues to rule today. From its beginning, Wahhabism declared the entirety of existing Islam to be unbelief, and traditional Muslims to be unbelievers subject to robbery, murder, and sexual violation. Wahhabism has always viewed Shia Muslims genocidally, as non-Muslims worthy of annihilation. Wahhabism has always attacked the traditional, spiritual Islam or Sufism that dominates Islam in the Balkans, Turkey, Central Asia, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Wahhabism and neo-Wahhabism (the latter being the doctrines of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the Pakistani Islamists) are the main source of Islamic extremist violence in the world today.
Wahhabism represents a distinct, ultraradical form of Islamism. Wahhabism is completely subsidized by the
Saudi regime, using oil income. Wahhabism has always maintained a two-faced policy regarding the West. It has always depended on the armed forces of the Christian nations - Britain, the U.S., and France - to secure its domination in the Arabian peninsula, while it violently attacks Jews, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists, as well as traditional Sunnis, Sufis, and Shias, throughout the rest of the world. Thus, the presence of U.S. troops guarding the Saudis did not begin with the Gulf War in 1991. From 1946 to 1962 the U.S. maintained an airbase in Saudi Arabia, and before that the British assisted the Wahhabi-Saudi alliance against the Ottomans. When the Saudis needed to clear the Grand Mosque in Mecca of protestors in 1979, they employed French paratroops to kill Muslims within the walls of the mosque.

Lopez: How widespread is it?
Schwartz: Wahhabism is official in Saudi Arabia. It is influential in Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab
Emirates. It has a substantial following in Yemen,which also has many Shia Muslims. It is unpopular in
Bahrain and irrelevant in Oman. Outside the Peninsula, Wahhabism is generally unpopular. But where trouble is found, Wahhabism may thrive. Hamas in Israel represents pure Wahhabism. Forms of neo-Wahhabi or Wahhabized ideology have been powerful in Egypt (the Muslim Brotherhood) and in Pakistan - in both countries neo-Wahhabis lead attacks on other Muslims and other faiths. But in both countries mainstream Muslim scholars continue to struggle against Wahhabism. Wahhabi aggression was defeated in Algeria and Tajikistan.

Wahhabi infiltration continues in Chechnya, to the detriment of the just struggle of the Chechens against
Russian imperialism, and in Kashmir, where it is an obstacle to resolution of the conflict. Wahhabi
extremism and terrorism continue to plague Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, although
its real supporters in these countries are few in number. But Wahhabi infiltration failed in Bosnia-Hercegovina and suffered a smashing repudiation in Kosovo. Albanian Muslims in Macedonia and Albania dislike
Wahhabism, more intensely in the former than in the latter. Wahhabism and its surrogate, the Deobandi
ideology of the Taliban, has been defeated in Afghanistan. Wahhabism has no real following in among
the Muslim masses in Francophone West Africa, Morocco, Libya, the rest of Central Asia, India, or Malaysia.

As to other Middle Eastern regions and states: Saddam Hussein has used Wahhabism to give his regime an
Islamic cover, but Wahhabism is deeply unpopular in Iraq.Kurdistan is mainly Sufi in its Islam and aside from a
handful of mercenary extremists, Kurds reject Wahhabism. Syria, although a radical Arab state, is Islamically pluralist and rejects Wahhabism completely.

Jordan is ruled by Hashemites, who are traditional enemies of Wahhabism. Turkish Muslims loathe Wahhabism because of its role in subverting the Ottoman caliphate.Iran loathes Wahhabism as much or more, because of its
massacres of Shias and wholesale destruction of Islamic holy sites, among other issues. And other trouble spots: Sudan is a case unto itself, although Wahhabi influence has been present in the Khartoum regime.

Wahhabi infiltration is a serious problem in East Africa.

In the Western European immigrant Muslim communities, Wahhabism has a presence in France but has been
weakened by the atrocities in Algeria. Britain has a loud Wahhabi, neo-Wahhabi, and Wahhabi-wannabe element but little real support for it among local Muslims. Wahhabism and Islamic extremism in general are weak in Germany, where most Muslims are Turkish and Kurdish.

Lopez: How much of a threat is it within our borders?
Schwartz: Unfortunately, the U.S. is the only country outside Saudi Arabia where the Islamic establishment
is under Wahhabi control. Eighty percent of American mosques are Wahhabi-influenced, although this does not
mean that 80 percent of the people who attend them are Wahhabis. Mosque attendance is different from church
or synagogue membership in that prayer in the mosque does not imply acceptance of the particular dispensation in the mosque. However, Wahhabi agents have sought to impose their ideology on all attendees in mosques they control.

The entire gamut of "official" Islamic organizations in the U.S., particularly the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) are Wahhabi fronts. In other such groups, like the American Muslim Council (AMC) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA) Wahhabism is in crisis, because of the devastating effect of 9/11. In addition, the Wahhabis are deeply compromised by the exposure of individuals like John Walker Lindh, Richard Reid, José Padilla, and John Muhammad.

Lopez: Why were 15 of the 19 9/11 terrorists from Saudi Arabia?
Schwartz: For three reasons.
First, although no more than 40 percent of Saudi subjects, at the most, consider themselves Wahhabis,
the Wahhabi clergy has controlled education in the kingdom, so that all subjects have been raised in an
atmosphere of violent hatred for other Islamic traditions and for the other faiths.
Second, the Saudi regime is undergoing a deep social crisis and movements of protest have been diverted by
the ultra-Wahhabi faction of the royal family, toward support of Bin Laden and his gangsters.
Third, the main object of protest in the kingdom is the flagrant hypocrisy between Wahhabi Puritanism and
Saudi royal decadence. Although the majority of young people want to be free of Wahhabism altogether, there
remains a section of the populace that reacts - as it always has - to Saudi hypocrisy by a flight into ultraradicalism.

The involvement of 15 Saudis out of 19 hijackers reflects an inevitable outcome of Wahhabi ideology,
not a special tactic by Osama bin Laden.

Lopez: Why does Saudi Arabia seem to not have to answer for its citizens' roles in the 9/11 attack. Why
is it not subject to closer scrutiny?
Schwartz: Cheap gas, a.k.a. "big oil."
Lopez: If Wahhabism is not Islam, why aren't more Muslims vocally renouncing the Wahhabists?
Schwartz: Nobody can say that Wahhabism or any other form of Muslim religious radicalism, is "not Islam,"
anymore than one can say that one or another extreme element in Judaism or Christianity do not belong to
those faiths. Islam includes many strains. Over 1,000 years, pluralism within the faith was the norm, and
traditional Muslims shied away from arguing that what they disliked was "not Islam," or that Muslims they
opposed were "unbelievers." But with the rise of Wahhabism and, particularly, the benefits of petrodollars, the Wahhabi-Saudis have arrogated to themselves a position of leadership in the world Islamic community or umma. Their claim of preeminence is not Islamically sound, in the opinion of many scholars.

Leading Muslims outside the U.S. denounce Wahhabism, and many denounced the atrocity of 9/11.
Unfortunately, however, most of U.S. media is completely incompetent in finding, listening to, or understanding these voices. U.S. media does not interview anti-Wahhabi sheikhs or imams or muftis in the Islamic world. U.S. media paid no attention when the head of Bosnian Islamic scholars, Mustafa efendija Ceric, preached eloquently against terrorism. U.S. media did not notice when an Albanian daily - in a country with a Muslim majority - hailed the U.S. action in Afghanistan last year with the headline "Nobody Veils the Statue of Liberty's Face." Nobody in the U.S. media has followed up on reports by myself and others showing that Kosovar Albanian Muslims would like to fight for the West in Iraq. Worse, U.S. media has reported very little of the mobilization of 70 million Indonesian Muslims against extremism in the aftermath of the Bali horror.

U.S. media listens to the so-called "Arab street," which is essentially irrelevant, filled as it is with yelling loiterers, or engages in polling exercises asking loaded questions. This, of course, reinforces the view of Muslims as unanimous haters of the West and America. To understand the struggle of the world's traditional Muslims against Wahhabism, you have to get away from the "Arab street" and meaningless people wandering around. You have to sit down with serious Islamic clerics and thinkers and dialogue with them in a way they understand and respect. I did this in the Balkans. This is one of several reasons I never tire of pointing out that, just as Orwell went to Spain, not Russia, to understand Stalinism, I went to Sarajevo, not Riyadh, to learn about Wahhabism.

I have never seen a single serious interview with an Islamic religious figure on Western television. This
is in itself a shocking fact. Of course, first an interviewer would have to know who to interview and what questions to ask. But if you don't know who or what to ask you have no business proclaiming how much of the Islamic world hates us and supports terror. Proper media coverage of Islam, meaning the views of serious clerics and intellectuals, seems unlikely to happen in a media industry where Barbara Walters remains transfixed by Saudi princes handing out charity and Bill O'Reilly preens himself by referring to Islam as "the enemy's religion." In the wars with Japan and Vietnam, Buddhism was the religion of much of the enemy, but we never saw wholesale smears against Buddhists in the U.S. public square. Of course, for much of the media, the primitive and simplistic image of Muslims as uniformly extremist and terrorist is easier to report, more popular, and "better TV" than that of a complex conflict inside a world religion. It also supports the left-wing claim that it's all our fault, or Israel's. It's so much easier to say they all hate us because of our hegemony
and Zionism than to say, as I do, that they don't all hate us, and that the real issue is the battle for the soul of Islam.

As for the situation in the U.S., condemnation of Wahhabism and even of terrorism have been sparse for
the following reasons:
Wahhabis (CAIR, etc.) are granted status by U.S. media as the main Islamic spokespeople. They issue
ameliorative statements intended to end discussion of the problem, and they closely watch the community and
prevent traditional Muslims from expressing themselves openly about Wahhabism and its involvement with
terrorism. The U.S. media let them get away with this.

Most immigrant Muslims in the U.S. came to this country to get away from extremism and are horrified
to see that their faith is in extremist hands here. They believed, before coming here, that the U.S. government would never permit such a thing to happen. However, their children are often indoctrinated and radicalized by extremists operating through Muslim schools, Islamic Sunday schools, and radical campus groups. That the U.S. government turned a blind idea to the Wahhabization of American Islam is deeply shocking and disturbing for them. They feel intimidated and defeated. The fact that the U.S. political and media elite have done almost nothing to enable traditional Muslims in this country to opposeWahhabism makes the situation that much worse.

Traditional Islam rejected involvement in politics, especially radical politics. For this reason also,
traditional Muslims in this country have been slow to rally against Wahhabi influence.
Finally, traditional Muslims in this country and around the world were devastated by 9/11. Their
reaction was one of shock, horror, and deep depression. Even many of those who tried to deny Muslim involvement in 9/11 did so because the alternative, admitting the role of terrorism in Islam today, was almost inconceivable. This is not because of agreement with the terrorists, but because of revulsion from them. Islam may not appear as "the religion of peace" to others, but most ordinary Muslims believe it is such. The evidence of 9/11 was so overwhelmingly negative many of them can best be described as profoundly demoralized.

Lopez: How would you like to see the U.S. deal with Saudi Arabia?
Schwartz: First, we have to demand, and obtain, from the Saudi authorities, a thorough and transparent
accounting of Wahhabi-Saudi involvement in 9/11 – the ideological background, funding, recruitment -
everything. This is indispensable for our own moral health.
Second, we have to demand that the Saudi state cut off all support for the international export of Wahhabi
extremism.
Third, we have to support traditional Muslims in their efforts to oppose Wahhabi influence and restore
theological pluralism within Islam.
Lopez: How can the U.S. deal with the Wahhabism within its borders?
Schwartz: First, the Saudi embassy must be informed that all support for Wahhabi extremist activity,
including mosques and schools, in the U.S. must end. Wahhabi hatemongering institutions like the Institute
of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America (IIASA), in Fairfax, Va. and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth
(WAMY) in Alexandria, Va., as well as the U.S. office of the International Islamic Relief Organization
(IIRO), should be shut down completely. Their assets should be seized and their facilities padlocked.

Second, the U.S. government has no alternative but to monitor extremist discourse among Muslims in this
country, including in mosques and in prison missions. Nobody would object, on grounds of protection for
religious advocacy, to federal investigation of terrorist incitement among Christian antiabortion activists or ultraextremist Jews. No such exemption can be granted Muslims.

Third, U.S. non-Muslims of good will must assist and support traditional Muslims in creating an Islamic
establishment in this country that is loyal to our government and to our traditions of interreligious respect. There is no obstacle to this in traditional Islam. But this also requires opposition to Islamophobia - the incitement of hatred against Islam as a faith - among non-Muslims.

Lopez: You are identified with Sufism. What attracted you to Islam? When and why did you make the plunge?
Schwartz: This is a personal matter and a long, involved story, but I will say this: I am a Sufi, and
a disciple of the great 13th century Spanish Muslim mystic Ibn Arabi. I believe with him in the unity of
the monotheistic faiths. Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship one God - the same God - Creator of the
universe. We should therefore see one another as, ultimately, members of a single religion, not three
distinct and hostile faiths. As I have put it: from the Jews, we receive the Sacred Law; from the Christians, the message of love and solidarity in the world; from the Muslims, intensity of belief.

I was attracted to Islam because of my origins in California. California is a place with immense Spanish
influence. Spanish culture is a blend of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions. I had a long and close
relationship with Catholics, and Spanish Catholic thought shows a deep Islamic impress. As I traveled
and wrote in California, Latin America, and Spain, I became increasingly interested in Islamic civilization. I was also interested in the considerable connections between Islamic spirituality and the Jewish tradition of mysticism, or Kabbalah.

Further, I was intrigued, beginning 35 years ago, by the connection between Islamic spirituality and such
non-Islamic traditions as Central Asian shamanism and Buddhism. Long ago and far away, I once thought
seriously of becoming an academic in this area. But my real knowledge of Sufism and of Islam emerged
from my literary, historical, journalistic, and humanitarian engagement with the Bosnian Muslims and
Albanian Catholics and Muslims, during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.

My authentic education in these issues came during many years of work with the Daniel Dajani, S.J.,
Albanian Catholic Institute, in San Francisco. Albanian Catholics are remarkable in that although they resisted Turkish rule, and defended their faith at great risk, they never developed an Islamophobic mentality. They viewed the Turks as oppressors but the Muslims as believers. While working with the Albanian Catholics I also began to study Albanian Sufism, which is the only example of a really vigorous indigenous Sufism present in Europe today. I later studied the Sufi influence in Bosnian Islam, as well.
I went to live and work in Bosnia-Hercegovina and theAlbanian lands, and the rest fell into place. But thatstory must wait for another time, and much more elaboration, except to note the essential lesson: noMuslims in the world have suffered more than the Bosnians in recent times. Yet neither the Bosnians nor the Albanian Muslims ever turned to Wahhabism or Islamic extremism. They remain Europeans, and their Islam is European. Indeed, I believe Balkan Islam
represents a powerful Islamic force for interfaith reconciliation in the West and the world.

Mevlana Rumi on Fasting
There's hidden sweetness in the stomach's emptiness.
We are lutes, no more, no less
If the soundbox is stuffed full of anything, no music.
If the brain and the belly are burning clean with fasting,
every moment a new song comes out of the fire.
The fog clears, and new energy makes you run up the steps in front of you.
Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.
Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen.
When you're full of food and drink, an ugly metal
statue sits where your spirit should.
When you fast, good habits gather like friends who want to help.
Fasting is Solomon (as) 's ring.
Don't give it to some illusion and lose your power, but even if you have,
if you've lost all will and control, they come back when you fast,
like soldiers appearing out of the ground, pennants flying above them.
A table descends to your tents, the Lord's table.
Expect to see it when you fast, this table spread with
other food, better than the broth of cabbages.

SUPPORTING AMERICA etc.

O my God! Why, why we do not want to understand? No muslim is supporting any wrongdoers. What those who appear to some as supportive of America (unless they are Americanist hypocrites) are doing are only trying
to quell the flames of FITNA and SLAUGHTER which is threatening to engulf the humanity. Muslim, christian. jew, all of us human beings are making many bad mistakes and brought the world to this dangerous
juncture.
Common people, I mean the spiritually unawakened, are excused to drown in the futile intellectual political
controversies that are plaguing world politics and mass media. But we are sufis and are supposed to be at
least slightly awakened to spiritual dimension of existence. One discovery should be that intellectual
or inherited religious belief is not enlightenment and therefore cannot produce much justice in people who
remain selfish or ego-serving albeit in a modified and disguised form.

ALL leading politicians are fast sleepers as far as spiritual awakening is concerned; for only sleepers
can rule this all-sleeping world. Shall we believe Allah or not Who says "IN EVERY TOWNSHIP (political
community) WE APPOINTED ITS GREAT ONES ITS CRIMINALS" (Surat al An'am 124)?

Mind you al An'am means THE CATTLE, please draw your own conclusions. Let's wake up and wean ourselves from the leftist pseudo-thinking habits as much as from the rightist. We must see the futility and danger of both from their inability to persuade opponents.

The awakened man argues or at least puts his case with such different nature that it strikes at the heart and
goes to the bottom of the matter and proves unanswerable. That is the level prophets, and saints speak from and
aspiring sufis should study and emulate it. Political right or political left--both are anathema to the sufi. We diagnose that the cause of every wrong in men is the E-G-O and muslims suffer from it no less than the others. Why our sufis appear to speak more respectfully about America is that they necessarily respect Allah's Will for making them the current worldly superiors who shall remain superiors as long as Allah has His wise reasons to keep them on top.

That is the current reality and making the best of realities is part of enlightenment. The alternative of
hitting our heads on the rocks of reality is not a halal option and can only result in debraining ourselves. To repeat, all worldly people whatever their positions and ranks are spiritual sleepers, cannot do better than they are doing at the present and can only resent criticism and become worse as a result.

So I am not criticising anybody except the ritual minimum and trying to improve myself so that I am
inspired by my Lord about what to do and say next.

Seeing that we are powerless I am praying to Allah to send His strong servant or servants to sort out the
mess the world is in. Read if you wish from Allah's Book about what distressed muslims like us would rather say "Our Lord save us from this township whose people are wrongdoers and appoint from Your Presence a
wali for us, appoint from Your Presence a helper for us" (Surat an-Nisa 75). Amen.

Islamic Law 101:
A lesson on patience and
making 70 excuses for your brother

Dealing With a 'Deviant Soul'
Taken from the Hanafi Fiqh electronic mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hanafi/

Question:

There is a brother who has been coming around the MSA at my university and has been open with his deviant
sexual behavior. One brother approached me asking for advice as to what they should do. It sounds like the
brothers are avoiding him out of disgust, while that person feels overly comfortable with hanging out with
the sisters. He has even disparaged the sacrosanctness of the honor of the brothers there with disparaging
comments such as "If it wasn't for the free food I wouldn't bother with you."

What would you recommend they do? How confronting should they be in approaching him? Would this
situation be one where one is allowed to tell others about him to avoid his harm that he is doing, as he is
publicly announcing it to others?

Answer from a student of Islamic Law:
Walaikum assalam,

Sidi, think of what the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) would have done in such a
situation.

Allah Most High said, "It is from the mercy of Allah that you are easy-going with them. If you were harsh
and stern, they would have deserted you..."

The Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Make things easy, and do not make them
difficult. Give glad tidings, and do not turn people away."

There must be a reason why this person is approaching the Muslims... People feel an emptiness in their
lives, and they don't know how to fill it. They don't know that their soul is seeking to fill it. Allah has
blessed us, as believers, with the meanings that give life to hearts and joy to souls. We should share this
with them.

A group of the brothers should take it on themselves to pay attention to this brother. Invite him to your
house. Feed him. (Food has a tremendous way of building confidence and relations between people,
because by feeding someone you are fulfilling their most basic material need.) Give him attention. But in
small numbers; in big numbers, people become actors, and the mast of brashness will remain on him.

But when alone, away from people, most actors shed their masks; in the end, they are just like you and me...
And we all need Allah.Walaikum assalam, Faraz Rabbani.
Make your Intentions for Allah's Sake
Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani
Sohbat, Tashkent, 4/14/2001
May Allah grant us His Blessings here and hereafter, [amin].
May Allah forgive our sins and change our bad characteristics into good characteristics and take away our sins and instead of our sins change them into good deeds. We hope as we have been gathered here through this life, we hope that we shall meet on the Day of Resurrection under the Holy Flag of Rasulullah (s), liwa'il hamd.
Keep your way. If your heart is in satisfaction, if you can find contentment through yourself that means you are on the right path. If all people say to you, "You are on the wrong way," but your heart is saying to you, "You are on the right way," keep what your heart is saying and try to continue on that way. If your heart is in contentment that contentment will take away doubts and hesitation from you. Real faith prevents something of hesitation or doubt to enter the heart.
If you reached the point that you never feel doubt and hesitation through your heart that means you are on the right steps to Allah.
Also you may look after your intention. Because intention it is like the wheel of the car, giving direction to people. If not this wheel on the car, can you use that car? What are you calling this wheel? [steering wheel] hearing? Hearing? You understand what I mean to say?!
If you lost it that car is useless. It is dangerous! You can't use it. You can't reach anywhere. Therefore intention is the most important factor for our actions. And Allah Almighty is looking... more than to your actions, to what is your intention when you are doing something.
A person may do something either for his ego's pleasure or for his Lord's pleasure. There is not a third factor. No! You may act either for Your Lord's pleasure - trying to make your Lord pleased with you; or you are trying to make your ego pleased with you. There is no third factor, no. Either right or left.
You are always in a crossway. You must choose one of two ways: one taking you to the Pleasure of Allah Almighty; and the second taking you to your ego's pleasure, as well as to shaytan's pleasure. Through every action therefore, intention is an obligation for everyone seeking to do something.
When you are going to pray you must say, "I am praying for the pleasure of my Lord as He ordered me. To be His obedient servant." When you are making wudu` you must say or you must intend, "I am washing, I am making ablution for my Lord's pleasure. I am trying to follow His Holy commands as I am a sincere servant for Him."
And [for] everything in such a way you must make an intention. If your intention is correct, Allah Almighty may forgive if there is anything wrong in your acting, He may say, "Doesn't matter, because My servant's intention was to make Me pleased and he was intending to keep My Order."
That gives honor to you, that you are intending to keep His Divine Order. To keep Heavenly Orders. That is important. You must intend for everything you do, because of His Holy Commands. We are sitting here for His Holy Commands. Say to yourself, "I intend this because He is pleased for us to come to jama`at, to pray in jama`at, as well as to hear something from heavenly teachings that are correcting my actions to be good efforts and actions to be suitable or acceptable towards His Divinely Presence."
It is enough. It must be clear for everyone. Not for anyone else's, only for His Pleasure. And the Prophet's (s) pleasure - when you are keeping his (s) sunnah, you are making him (s) pleased, and his (s) pleasure is from His Lord's pleasure.
And also awliya's orders or advice, when you are going to keep their orders and advice that makes awliya happy with you, and it is also for the pleasure of Rasulullah (s), and that is the pleasure of Allah Almighty.
May Allah forgive us.
We were together with you since 12 or 13 or 14 days, about two weeks. And I was addressing our hosts, the Uzbek people, trying to speak to them to give them something of the reality of Sufi orders. Because this place is the most important place for Sufi orders and the most distinguished Naqshbandi Order grew up through this holy land. I was busy with them, because up to today I was only here a short time with them and according to our Grandshaykhs [Khawajagan Grandshaykhs buried in Uzbekistan] I was speaking to them, and my speech was giving something to their empty hearts - planting through their empty hearts something of Divine Love, something of the Prophet's love - that is the Lord's love, heavenly love. I was occupied for that purpose. Now I found a short time with you [to speak in English] in just the several times you have been with me, though you heard so many times association from me where I am only a translator for the transmission coming from our grandshaykhs.
I only found this short time for addressing you and it is a summary to you [from what I was speaking to our Uzbek hosts]. As long as you can hold to it, you are never going to fail, here or hereafter. Because it is a summary of all holy books. May Allah forgive me and bless you. Allah Allah...
His Sovereignty is through His Eternity. Try to be His honored servants, not dishonored ones. Try to be only for Him, an honored servant. that is your most high reward, your most high honor.
As-Sayyid Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani
speaks on Laylat al-Qadr
Peckham Mosque, London on Laylat ul-Qadr Ramadan 1415
(Feb-Mar 1995)

Nights are the time which Allah `azza wa jall hasdesignated for the attainment of spiritual blessing
and power. Allah told His Beloved in the Quran: Rise to pray in the night except a little (73:1)

Allah ordered Prophet (s) to spend most of the night in worship in order to prepare his heart for the
tremendous revelation of Quran. This night worship was the means for the Prophet (s) to ascend and to attain
more and more power. His Companions would join him for the night prayer and would be rising up in station and spirituality:

Surely We will make to descend on you a weighty Word. Surely the rising by night is the firmest way to tread
and the best corrective of speech. (73, 1-5)

Laylat al-Qadr is a holy night. All nights of Ramadan are holy nights but Laylat al-Qadr is the holiest
night of this holy month. It is also the holiest night among all other holy nights throughout the entire
year. It comes only once a year and Allah Almighty grants to His most praised, most respected and most
beloved servant Sayyidina Muhammad (s) this holy night, the Night of Power. About this night, God, the
Glorious and Exalted said:

In the name of God, the Beneficent the Merciful Indeed We sent it [the Holy Quran] down on the Night
of Power. What will convey to you what the Night of Power is like! Better is the Night of Power than a thousand months in that Night the angels and the Spirit descend by the permission of their Lord for every affair.
Peace it is, till the break of dawn. [Quran, Chapter 97]

"Night of Power" is a very strange translation for "Laylat al-Qadr" but it attributes to it a good
meaning: whoever may attain the blessings of this holy night should attain perfect power in his spiritual
life. One can attain perfect power by means of this night because its value is more than one thousand
months of worshipping. Every worship performed increases the spiritual power of people and in this
night any worship is going to be valued as one thousand months of worshipping on any other night. It
is condensed power. God, the Almighty, makes it a mighty night by placing in it such incredible power,
making it a much mightier night than other nights. Allah Almighty says it is much more valuble than one
thousand months of worshipping. That means Allah Almighty granted such huge power to that night.

It is just such a mighty night which is highly respected and given such a high value by the Lord Almighty. It is so mighty that it is said that it is the most mighty night, that Night of Power. Allah Almighty puts in it power for His servants to come closer to His Divine Presence. In a short time a that great power adorns worshippers in this night and they may be able to penetrate through the entire heavens and reach the Divine Presence.

People on this night are going to be on several different levels. No doubt we are on the lowest level,
so we are hoping in this night to attain the honor and illumination granted in it. When we reach a higher
level and as it is a holy night in the heavens as well, we will begin to sense something [of the great
power being manifested] on this night. Whoever is at the highest spiritual level must be present for this
night in the Divine Presence of the Lord. That appearance will occur in a matter of seconds, perhaps within a single second. Perhaps one second is an enormous unit of time [in comparison] to that moment. It may be more than a second or much less, but it is an instant in time when an appearance from Divine Presence is manifested to creation. When that Divine Appearance manifests (Ar. tajalli), no one will remain standing throughout the heavens and the earth. Everything falls into prostration, throwing themselves down in prostration for that moment. That manifestation of Divine Power--that Divine Light--appears, and whoever is prepared and who has
also been invited to attend that appearance sees it and falls in prostration. Everything in that moment falls in prostration (Ar. sajda): all animals—even ants, even elephants, even giraffes, even dogs—on that night they are not sleeping but are hurrying to make prostration on experiencing that divine manifestation. All trees-- even buildings--bow down in prostration and then rise up to their original positions. This is mentioned in Quran:

And unto Allah falleth prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do
their shadows in the morning and the evening hours. (ar-R`ad, 15)
and Hast thou not seen that unto Allah payeth adoration whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is in the
earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the hills, and the trees, and the beasts, and many of mankind, while there are many unto whom the doom is justly due. He whom Allah scorneth, there is none to
give him honour. Lo! Allah doeth what He will.(al-Hajj, 18)

May God forgive us because we are sinners. Every few minutes, or even every few seconds we commit so many
sins, thus we are in need of our Lord's forgiveness for the honor of His Most Praised Servant Sayyidina Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him. This holiest of nights is granted to him from his Lord
Almighty Allah. In it all powers adorn him, all lights illuminate him and all angels come to him. The Archangel Gabriel comes to him, and he is dressed with countless honors on this holy night. The angels ask forgiveness [from Allah for people] for the sake of the master of humanity (Sayyid al Bashar), to the Owner of creation (Rabb al-Ka'inat).

For his honor, may God forgive us and take away our bad states. May Allah change our conditions from bad
to good and change everything in us to be for His Sake. May we be good servants, obedient servants,
beloved servants, respected servants, praised servants. Try to be servants such as this. For that reason, attend humbly to worship on that night as our Beloved Prophet (s) directed us:
"Whosoever offers voluntary prayers during the Night of Power out of belief and expecting from Allah its
reward will have his past sins forgiven." [Bukhari and Muslim]

Now I would like to pray the Prayer of Recollection (salat ul-tasabih) to express a little bit of praising
from our side to glorify our Lord Almighty Allah. That glorifying Allah Almighty in salat ul-tasabih consists
four cycles of prayer (raka'ats) in which we are glorify our Lord 300 times by saying "Glory be to God,
all praise be to God, there is no god but the One God Allah, God is Most Great!" (Ar. "Subhanallahi wal
hamdulillahi wa la ilaha illa Allahu wa Allahu Akbar." May Allah Almighty glorify His beloved and most
praised servant, Sayyidina Muhammad (S), and may mercy from His endless mercy oceans fall on you, and fall on our descendents, and fall on our ancestors, fall upon east and west, and may its blessing fall upon all from
North to South, upon all oceans and upon all continents.

Allah Allah...Karim Allah...Aziz Allah...Subhan Allah...Sultan Allah Oh our Lord You are the only
Sultan. Raise up Your Work and bring down the work of destructive disbelief and evil which seeks to harm
Your human beings and all other creations by means of a destined appointed and authorized sultan from your
Divine Presence.

Bihurmat al habeeb wa bi hurmat al fatiha.

ON LAYLAT AL-QADR

The Night of God's Decree in the last ten days of the month of Ramadan

from NUZHAT AL-MAJALIS

A large number of the commentators have said that deeds done on that night are better than the deeds of
1,000 months which do not contain a Night of the Decree. Ka`b al-Ahbar said -- may God be well pleased
with him:

"There was a righteous king among the Bani Isra'il. God revealed to their Prophet: "Tell him to wish for
something." He said: "I wish to strive in the way of God with my possessions and my offspring." God gave
him one thousand children. He began to prepare each child for battle until that child died as a martyr,
whereupon he prepared the next one, and so forth until they were all killed in a period of 1,000 months. Then
the king himself entered the fray and was killed. The people said: "No-one will ever be able to attain to
his merit." And (now) God revealed this sura (The Decree)."

Al-Waqidi said: "It is the first sura revealed inMadina." Najm al-Din al-Nasafi, however, says: "Eighty-five suras were revealed in Mecca, the first being al-Fatiha and the last "Woe unto the Defrauders" (sura 83); and twenty-nine were revealed in Madina, the first being "al-Baqara" (sura 2) and the last "al-Ma'ida" (sura 5)."

Abu Bakr al-Warraq said: "Solomon's kingdom was five hundred months, and Dhu al-Qarnayn's kingdom was five hundred months, and God has made the deeds done during that night outweigh both kingdoms."
I saw in Rawd al-afkar (The Meadows of Reflections) that one day the Prophet (s) mentioned four men who
had who had worshipped God for eighty years, not disobeying him for one blink of an eye. The companionswere seized by wonder at this, whereupon Gabriel came to him and brought him this sura so that the Prophet (s) and the Companions became happy.

The scholars differ concerning the designation of the Night of the Decree. Most say that it falls on the
twenty-seventh of Ramadan. Whoever prays on that night four rak`at (prayer-cycles) in which he recites
al-Fatiha, "Rivalry in worldly increase distracteth you" (sura 102) once, and "Say He is God: One" (sura
112) three times, Allah will make the throes of death easy for him, remove from him the punishment of the
grave, and give him four pillars of light on top of each of which rest 1,000 palaces.

Al-Shafi`i said -- may God be well pleased with him: "The strongest reports I have is that it falls on the
twenty-first." The author of Tanbih al-ghafilin (Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi, d. CE 983 CE) reportedly said
it is not confined to the last ten nights of Ramadan, but al-Rafi`i rejected this opinion. What I did see in
the "Tanbih" is that he said that the letters which form "The Night of the Decree" are nine (la-y-la-t-a-l-qa-d-r), and God mentioned it three times in the sura: 9 x 3 = 27, which is an indication that it falls on the twenty-seventh.

This is also the opinion of Ibn `Abbas, who adduced the fact that God created seven heavens, seven earths,
seven seas, and seven days; and that He created us from seven elements and nourished us with seven kinds
of food, according to His saying (80:27-31):
"And we cause the grain to grow therein"-- this is (1)wheat and (2)barley --"and (2) grapes, and (3)
reeds"-- that is, canes --"and (4) olives and (5) dates, and garden-closes of thick foliage"-- orchards
with great trees --"and (6) fruits"-- such as figs --"and (7) grasses"-- that is, the vegetation which
animals eat.

And finally, (Ibn `Abbas adduces) that He ordered us to prostrate upon hearing seven verses. All this is
discussed in the chapter on trust (al-amana).

Dzikir HUU
sidi - if you could please make some time - what does "Hu" mean - literally, spiritually (as in the Naqshbandi dhikr) and > what is the origin of its usage ? or any info you might have on just HU ma as salaama
jazakallahu Khair

Wa `alaykum as-Salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh:

I heard Mawlana say in his house in Cyprus, in Rajab 1422:
The Manifestations (al-tajalliyât) are of four types: Divine Essence, Divine Attributes, Divine Names, and Divine Acts. The Name of the Pure Essence (al-dhât al-bah.t) is HÛ ("He") while ALLÂH is the comprehensive (jâmi') Name for all the Names and Attributes. Every created being is a manifestation for a Name or under the tutelage of one of the Divine Names, which that being reveals. Hence there is no created being nor glimpse of a
second in time that equals another. From the Pure Essence appear the Attributes and Names, while the worlds appear from the Acts. As for HÛ, He never appears for He is al-Samad - the "Self-Sufficient, Impregnable,
Eternally Besought of all, Everlasting Sovereign" Who has no interior nor is circumscribed in a place or direction, and everything in creation subsists through this quality of His (samadiyya). Therefore, it is impossible for even an atom to exist outside of this quality of His. If it were attributed to other than Him, it would be shirk.

Oneness (al-Ahadiyya)

He said that the ocean of the Attributes points to the Essence without being the Essence. Allâh I said in Sûrat al-Ikhlâs., Say: He is Allah, the One! then He said, And there is not, comparable unto Him, anyone (kufuwan
ahadun) in the nominative but He did not say, "And He does not have a single comparative" (kufuwan ahadan) [accusative]. The second ahad points to the Attributes and to the fact that they are insufficient to completely
describe Him. So, if the Attributes are insufficient - and they are pre-eternal and everlasting - then what about created beings?

Why Muslim hate Jews
Well, I settled into my comfy chair with remote in hand at 8pm. Ironically,
a Jewish documentary was just concluding on my local PBS station. I had many
questions in my mind:

Why do the Muslims hate Jews?
Why are Muslims so violent?
How come Muhammad killed so many people?

Two hours later, and nearly in tears, I had a completely different perception of the prophet and Islam. I had new questions: Where were all the angry people? Where is all the violence we hear about?
Why hasn't anyone talked about this before?

Many things in this historical (and yes no matter how I look at it, it was only historical and not proselytizing) documentary surprised and even shocked me. I was struck at first by how completely and accurately Muslims
from around the world were able to relate the stories of the Quran and the prophet's life from memory, completely and precisely. I was shocked that Muhammad received his revelations from God through the Archangel Gabriel (Hey! That's my Archangel. What is he doing in Arabia?) I was amazed that
Muhammad didn't hate Jews and Christians, in fact he taught his people to love and respect them and that their beliefs were valid.

In essence, my beliefs about Islam were turned upside down within two hours. I did not see one machine gun or burning American flag. I saw an Islamic NY firefighter quietly and humbly tell about the lessons of Islam,
such as to save one life is to save the whole of mankind, and how better to serve God than to serve your fellow man.

I watched as an Islamic nurse (my wife is a nurse) gently caressed the face of a dying man, speaking softly and playing tapes of the Quran to soothe him. Anyway, in the beginning of the documentary it stated that part of the
funding came from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting which is tax supported. I am proud as a citizen to support this work. It was not pushing religion, it was explaining it. I am all for that.

I also understand now that the people I am angry at do not represent Islam and the teachings of the prophet. I even cringed this morning getting out of the shower when I heard a news reporter refer to an "Islamic Militant
group" because I believe that is an oxymoron. I would consider a "Christian militant group" to not be Christian at all and now I understand at least a small part of your frustration with the media.

Anyway, it was a great program and even though it left me hungry for more information, it certainly changed my attitude. Mike

THE CONDITION OF THE LOVERS OF
ALLAH ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

According to a hadith, some people will rise on the Day of Judgment in such a state that upon seeing Allah [Glorious and Exalted is He], they will smile, and upon seeing them, Allah [Glorious and Exalted is
He] will smile. A voice will then be heard:

Those who love Allah [Glorious and Exalted is He], and moreover, those who love one another for the sake of Allah [Glorious and Exalted is He] will be granted sanctuary under the shade of the Throne [`Arsh] of Allah [Glorious and Exalted is He]. On that day there will be no shade except the shade of the `Arsh. For ordinary
people, the Day of Judgment will last 70,000 years; whereas, for the lovers, it will last only the duration of the two sunnah cycles [rak`ah] before the morning [fajr] prayer. They will stroll upon hills of musk and behold the beauty [jamal] of the True Beloved [Glorious and Exalted is He].

The lovers will have naught to do With the tribulations of the Day of Judgment
No concern will the lovers have Other than beholding the beauty of their Beloved.

Some lovers will be so absorbed in their yearning for Allah [Glorious
and Exalted is He] that they will rush to the gates of Heaven
[jannah] and ask the gatekeeper, the Angel Ridwan [may peace be upon
him], "We were told in the world [dunya] that in Heaven one is
granted the beatific vision of Allah [Glorious and Exalted is He]."
The Angel Ridwan [may peace be upon him] will ask Allah[Glorious and
Exalted is He], "O Lord, the scales of justice have yet to be
weighed, yet these people seek entry into Heaven?" Allah [Glorious
and Exalted is He] will address them, "O my servants, you have still
to account for your deeds, yet you wish to enter Heaven?" The lovers
will respond, "O Lord, Most Generous, You know well that we turned
our backs on the material world, and devoted ourselves only to You.
Our hearts desired not the bounties of the world and we always
remained content. We loved You and worshipped You throughout the
nights, our foreheads in prostration. We prayed and supplicated unto
You from the depths of our hearts. We restlessly passed the nights
away, longing to attain Your pleasure. At the time of our death we
had nothing in our hearts but love for You." Allah [Glorious and
Exalted is He] will then address the Angel Ridwan [may peace be upon
him], "Ridwan! These are my lovers, what reckoning can there be of
them? Open the gates of jannah and let them enter without having to
account for their deeds."

According to a hadith, on the Day of Judgment, Allah [Glorious and
Exalted is He] will express regret to those lovers who faced
adversity in the material world [dunya] and lived in abstinence,
remaining poor and hungry. Allah [Glorious and Exalted is He] will
commiserate Himself before them, just like a friend feels bad in
front of another friend for not giving him a gift.

On the Day of Judgment, the lovers will be granted near the watering
place [hawd] of Kauthar. The most beloved of Allah [Glorious and
Exalted is He] and the mercy unto the worlds [rahmah lil-`alamin],
the blessed Prophet [may Allah bless him and grant him peace], will
fill cups of water for them to drink. He will recognize each of his
followers by the nur [spiritual radiance] shining forth from the
limbs that they used to wash in ablution [wudu]. Even the angels will
be pleased when they see these people as the followers [ummah] of
Prophet Muhammad [may Allah bless him and grant him peace].

When they reach the plains of judgment,
The dazzling angels will rise and proclaim,
The servants of the servants of
The servants of Muhammad have arrived!

The hardships of the Day of Judgment will fall upon the disbelievers
[kuffar], those who associated partners with Allah [Glorious and
Exalted is He] [mushrikin], the hypocrites [munafiqin], and the
sinners [fasiqin]. The lovers will cross the bridge [sirat] over Hell
as fast as the speed of wind. The heat of hellfire will be cooled by
the light [nur] of their faith [iman] such that Hell itself will cry
out and request the lovers to pass quickly, lest their faith
extinguish its fires.

On the Day of Judgment, Allah [Glorious and Exalted is He] will grant
the lovers the right of intercession [shifa`ah]. They will take many
sinners along with them into Heaven. The lovers will not be subjected
to the rigors of the Day of Judgment and they themselves will be a
means of delivering others from it. A radiant nur will shine in front
of them, leading them to the doors of Heaven:

And those who feared their Lord will be led into Heaven
in droves. (39:73)

On the Day of Judgment, Allah [Glorious and Exalted is He] will have
a special regard for those who instilled love for Allah [Glorious and
Exalted is He] in the hearts of others. On the day, wealth and
children will be of no use:

The day in which neither wealth nor children will benefit
any man, save he who comes to Allah with a pure heart.
(26:88-89)

Those believers who passed this ephemeral abode as poor and indigent
will be treated as honored guests on the Day of Judgment. It is
reported in a hadith that the blessed Prophet [may Allah bless him
and grant him peace] used to supplicate:

O Allah, let me live as an indigent and die as an
indigent. Raise me among the indigent on the Day of
Judgment.

~~~~

O Allah, grant me a heart imbued with love for Thee,
And may Thy mercy always descend upon my heart,
Grant me a heart that is so absorbed in love for Thee that
I may be oblivious to the pandemonium of the Day of Judgment.

Source: Chapter 8 of Love for Allah, a translation of `Ishq Ilahi by
Shaykh Faqir Zulfiqar Ahmad Naqshbandi Mujaddidi. Translated by
Kamaluddin Ahmed. Published by Faqir Publications, USA. Available
at www.al-rashad.com.

CONCERNING THE RITUAL PRAYER OF THOSE WHO ARE EMANCIPATED [FROM THE FIRE OF HELL] IN THE MONTH OF SHAWWAL
[salat al-'utaqa' fi Shawwal]
Excerpted from Ghunya al-Talibin li-Tariq al-Haqq
by Sayidduna Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Jilani (q).

As for the ritual prayer of those who are emancipated [from the Fire
of Hell] in [the month of] Shawwal [salat al-'utaqa' fi Shawwal], we
learn from a traditional report, transmitted [by a chain of reliable
authorities] from Anas [ibn Malik]* (may Allah be well pleased with
him), that Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace)
once said:

"If someone performs eight cycles of ritual prayer [raka'at] in the
month of Shawwal, either during the night or during the day-reciting
in each cycle the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] [one
time] and "Qul Huwa'llahu Ahad [Say: 'He is Allah, One!']" fifteen
times-and if, when he has finished performing his ritual prayer
[salat], he glorifies Allah [sabbaha] seventy times, and invokes
Allah's blessing upon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him
peace) seventy times -- by Him who sent me as a Prophet bearing the
Truth [bi'l-Haqqi Nabiyyan], no servant [of the Lord] will perform
this ritual prayer [salat], without Allah causing the fountains of
wisdom [yanabi' al-hikma] to well up in his heart, and causing his
tongue to speak with wisdom, and showing him both the sickness of
this world and the cure for that sickness.

By Him who sent me as a Prophet bearing the Truth [bi'l-Haqqi
Nabiyyan], if someone performs this ritual prayer [salat], exactly
as I have just described it, that person will not raise his head
from his final prostration [sujud] until Allah has granted him
forgiveness, and if he dies, he will die as a martyr [shahid] to
whom forgiveness has been granted.

Nor will any servant [of the Lord] perform this ritual prayer
[salat], in the course of a journey, without Allah making it smooth
and easy for him to travel and arrive at his intended destination.
If he is burdened with debt, Allah will settle his debt. If he is
needy, Allah will satisfy his needs.

By Him who sent me as a Prophet bearing the Truth [bi'l-Haqqi
Nabiyyan], no servant [of the Lord] will perform this ritual prayer
[salat], without Allah (Exalted is He) granting him -- for every
letter [harf] and every verse [aya] [of his Qur'anic recitation] --a
makhrafa in the Garden of Paradise."

Someone asked: "And what is this makhrafa, O Messenger of Allah?" So
he went on to explain (Allah bless him and give him peace):

"[The term makhrafa is applied to] orchards in the Garden of
Paradise, through which the rider may travel for a hundred years
without passing beyond the shade of just one of the trees that grow
there."

Some brief about Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (QS) is inorder. He lived between years 1207- 1273, was born in Balh in Horasan and died in Konya in Turkey. He was turkish, spoke turkish but wrote mostly in Persian for that was the chief literary medium and lingua franca of Islamic lands east and north of Syria except partly in Iraq.

He was a descendant of Abu Bakr as Siddiq RA as is our maulana Muhammad
Nazim (may Allah raise his ranks forever). His father Bahauddin Walad was a
great alim and sheikh and the family had to emigrate to Seljuk Anatolia
escaping from the Mongols. His mother Lady Mu'mina belonged to the Harzemshahs
royal family. He was taught by his father, by Chelebi Husamuddin (who was
humble enough to later became his murid and secretary) and gained
enormously in spirituality from his brief association with Shamsuddin Tabrizi,
a wandering dervish of strange and great secrets and lights. What we know of
the latter is from Rumi and from nowhere else and amounts to very little by way
of solid information. Judging from what Rumi produced by way of sufi erudition
and insight the usual opinion among experts is that Rumi was himself an ocean
of spiritual combustible stuff and Shams only applied the spark necessary to
send Rumi exploding into the mighty volcano that he was to eject most brilliant
sufi inspirations that the depths of his great soul contained.

But like many other greats who employed a lot of tales and metaphors and
hyperbole for reasons of eloquence and outpourings of universal love (which is a
characteristic of the Persian sufism) he is sometimes variously misinterpreted,
praised or criticized as a pantheist, as a believer in incarnation and/or
evolution or not taking Islam's laws and rituals seriously enough etc. All
these are lies and misrepresentations however. He was through and through a
proper sunni muslim saint of the highest order and only his daring and colorful
ebullitions of pious universal humanitarian aspirations and mournful cries of
inconsolable love pains have been taken out of context by those with not enough
knowledge and understanding and even goodwill.

During his life he was acutely aware of such misrepresentations and he deplored
them in his Divane Kebir as follows:

"So long as I am alive I am the bondman of the Qur'an
I am the dust on the footpath of Muhammad Mukhtar (sws)
Whoever reports from me anything other than this
I am both sick of him and sick of such words of his"

Let one anectode suffice how apt his eloquence was to intimate a great
secret while the same eloquence was equally apt to be misunderstood by square-
heads.

A murid came to Maulana Rumi bitterly weeping and complaining. Another murid
had broken his heart extremely rudely and mercilessly. Next time Maulana met
his murids for zikr he did not return the salam of the offender and turned away
from him. The latter was very mortified with shame and severally implored the
sheikh to tell him what was wrong. Maulana spoke to him indirectly "I am
ordering you to pick up a pickaxe and a showel and go and demolish the
Kaaba". "How come such an order and how on earth can I dare to do such impiety
o my master" the incredulous and shocked murid asked. "You have already done
something more impious" said the Maulana. "It must be a mistake I haven't done
nothing so great" the poor murid moaned.

Then the sheikh put the stone in place "Why, you have demolished a mu'min's
heart which is the real House of Allah".

Those who don't understand true sufi sheikhs are like that- they don't see
that a man's heart is everything and outer things however sacred are only
symbols of what should be really inside man. Said Rasulullah sws:

Allah does not look at your forms and acts but He looks into your hearts and
intentions".

Our food and our provisions are just what Allah Almighty granted to us.
Everything we consume is divinely prepared and shared from the Creator. When
our provision has finished, we are finished and off we go to the cemetery.
If it isn't finished, we are still here. Also our spiritual provision is
prepared and everyone is going to be given their share. Now this is a holy
gathering and everyone is going to take their share of spiritual provision,
whatever is written for us to be granted, keep it! Sayidinna Ali said, 'You
must try to listen, to hear and to keep! This is for you a support in this
life and it is a difficult life. Ouzu bilahi mineshaitana rajim, Bismillahir
Rahmanir Rahim (I seek protection from satan, in the Name of Allah Most
Gracious, Most Merciful.) That is a path from you to me - to give to you
what is given to me. You must be prepared to accept and to take, it is
fresh, new and direct, this spiritual provision, for men and for women. When
you are keeping it through your heart, you may use it.

As a car needs petrol as a seperate power, ten litres or a hundred litres,
to go from one side to another it needs this power. How can it go without
that power? Yes, you may move as a horse or a donkey with barley, but that
isn't in need of spiritual power, it is only for your service. Allah created
those to help you, they are not in need of spiritual power to support them,
they are only for this life for a while, either carrying your load or for
eating.

But you, mankind of the 21st century. So many years have passed away in this
world and people are still thinking the world is getting younger, this wrong
mentality of "New Year", they aren't saying "old year". And this century
mankind reached the top level of authority of using Allah Almighty's secret
powers that He put into nature. For about two centuries now Allah Almighty
has opened one ray from His secret Power Oceans, we call it 'electricity.'
Today, no one is describing it, you may only see it working but you can't
see the power itself. And all 'technologiyya' is built on that power from
East to West, that is their soul.

You, your physical being is only belonging to earth, as Allah created the
first man, he couldn't see or smell. When Allah Almighty's Order comes and
enters people they are saying. "Who am I? Where is my power reaching to?" A
statue from clay? How can it move, stand up and live?! It was only an order
from Allah Almighty telling every atom there to "Stand up! Be alive!" In the
beginning man was a clay statue, then he began to move, to be alive.

We are like the letter 'Alif' (In Arabic), like a stick. It is so difficult
for us to stand up.We are the most perfect design among all the creatures on
earth, but some are saying we are from gorillas! All of us are the best
design. Don't say we are ugly. Do you think that He is not valuable, the
Lord of Heavens, to be thanked and praised? Countless thanks, praisings,
worshippings to You.

21st century people are not thinking. How can man claim he is reaching to
the top level of humanity when he is coming down to the level of animals?

The Last Days are approaching. You must take more care to appreciate Allah
Almighty. More respect, more praises, more glorifying to Him, Allah. You are
not giving but taking, wrong, no, through your honouring you are going to be
honoured, through your praising you are going to be praised, through your
glorifying you are going to be glorified

A storm is coming. It will take careless ones, no one will know where they
will be thrown. Dunya, this earth will only be for the servants who are
taking care in servanthood for the Divinely Service. As I sit here I asked
for an ocean, yet it is only an introduction, only what I need. Keep it for
yourself, wether you are happy or unhappy, honoured or dishonoured,
respected or disrespected, alive or thrown away rubbish.

Paradise is for diamonds, for good ones. Choose for yourself...diamonds or
rubbish? We aren't coming with a stick, this is divinely advice.
May Allah forgive me and bless you.There is only one Sultan.Al-Fatihah.

Mevlana Rumi

Every day he bears a burden, and he bears this calamity for a purpose;
He bears the discomfort of cold and December's snow in hope of Spring.
Before the fattener-up of all who are lean, he drags his emaciated body...

Though they expel him from two hundred cities, he bears it for the sake
of the Love of a Prince(1).

Though his shop and house be laid waste, he bears it in fidelity to a
tulip bed.

Allah's Love is a very strong fortress; He carries his soul's baggage
inside a fortress.

He bears the arrogance of every stonehearted enemy for the Sake of a
Friend, of one long-suffering.

For the sake of the ruby he digs out mountain and mine; for the sake
of the rose-laden one he endures a thorn.

For the sake of those two intoxicating eyes of His, like the
intoxicated, he endures crop sickness.

For the sake of a quarry not to be contained in a snare, he spreads
out the snare and decoy of the hunter.

It was said to him, "Will you bear this sorrow till the Resurrection?"

And he said, "Yes, Friend, I bear it!"

His breast is a Cave and Shams-e Tabrizi is the Companion of the Cave. (2)

-- Ghazal 1663

(1)Prophet Muhammad, 'alayhi afdali salaat was salaam.
(2)The Companion of the Cave is Abu Bakr who accompanied the
Prophet in his flight from Mecca. They stayed three days in a cave
outside Mecca on their way to Medina. The Qur'an refers to the
incident in sura 9:40: " If you do not help him, yet Allah has helped
him already, when the unbelievers drove him forth, the second of
the two; when they were in the cave, when he said to his
companion, "Sorrow not; surely Allah is with us."

This religion is easy.

This religion is easy. Do not make it a rigor,
or you shall be overcome. Be steadfast, seek the
closeness of Allah, grow in virtue, and implore
His appeasement day and night.

-The Prophet Muhammad, as reported by Abu Hurairah

Audhu bil-Lahi min ash-shaytan ar-rajeem

By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most
Munificent.

People are coming into Islam, alhamdulil-Lah. That is a good tidings, good
news, for believers. And most are coming into Islam in Western countries.
Alhamdulil-Lah, it is a proof that the active power of Islam is like the day
it came.

Here there are so many brothers and sisters, and all of them except me are
young people; I am not seeing any old ones. All of you are young,
subhanAllah al-'Aliu-l'Adhim! If Islam acts on young people it is right; it
is perfect, also, because you can run out, and this is London - everything
that your egoes are asking for, you can easily find. Which thing is keeping
you here? That is a spiritual power that affects your hearts and that is
going to be so victorious on devils and evils.

Now, there is an important question about something which is a problem for
new Muslims coming into Islam in Western countries: What they should do for
learning and practicing Islam?

Now in our time, a lot of people are coming to Western countries to call
people into Islam, but, as I see, they are the most fanatical people in
their countries and they are also such hard people. Islam is the most
tolerant religion which Allah Almighty has sent to His servants, but they
never understand about tolerance in Islam. They want Muslims to be as they
were in the time of the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallim; they say
that anyone who believes and accepts Islam must keep all the rules in Islam.

That is perfection, but they do no consider that all the rules in Islam did
not come at once, on the first day. Allah Almighty could have sent all the
rules and all the Qur'an in one day, in one hour; Angel Gabriel could have
brought it all, saying, "This is your Book; all the words in it, you may
use." But Allah Almighty did not do that. Instead He sent all the rules of
Islam over a period of twenty-three years. Is it not true? In twenty-three
years the rules of Islam came to be complete.

We are not saying that the rules of Islam are not to be with people in our
time; we believe that all its rules are suitable for the nature of man, but
we are not prepared for those rules at once. When we make Shahadah,
saying,"We bear witness to the unity and existencee of God and the
prophethood and the Message of Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa
sallim," saying that we are witnesses, that we accept it, it doesn't mean
that we are ready to carry all the rules of Islam at that moment. If you say
that it does, it means that you do not understand any of the wisdoms for the
coming of the Holy Qur'an over twenty-three years. Then, if you say this,
you must make an operation on the heads of people, to cut them open and
bring the Book, putting it inside. Otherwise, it is impossible.

Therefore, when the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallim, informed us
about the signs of the last days, he said that when the Last Day approaches,
there would be in Islam people without wisdom; and wisdoms are more precious
than knowledge. Allah Almighty says, "Wa man yu'ta-l-hikmata fa-qad utia
khairan kathira" ("And the one who has been given wisdom has indeed been
given great good." 2:269), the one who has been given wisdoms has been given
all treasures." Therefore, a little bit of wisdom is more precious than all
knowledge without wisdoms, as a diamond is more precious than a great amount
of coal.

In our time we have knowledge. But we are not in need of knowledge; rather,
we are in need of wisdoms. We have thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands
of scholars, but they only have knowledge, without wisdoms.

They may be unhappy with my words, but I must say them. We are in need of
wisdoms, and Allah Almighty says that wisdoms are not given to everyone.
Wisdoms do not come from outside; the sources of wisdoms come through
hearts. You are getting wisdoms by reading books?! No. Rather it is
something that you have been given through your heart. Therefore the
Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallim, says, "Man akhlasa arba'ina sabaha,
la-fajarat yanadiu-l-hikmah min qalbihi 'ala lisanihi." ("For the one who is
sincere (to his Lord) for forty days, springs of wisdom will gush forth from
his heart upon his tongue.") He is saying that if anyone can be a sincere
worshipper for forty days -- and iklhas, sincerity, means never letting
anything of his ego's desires to be involved or to interfere with his
worship for forty days -- then Allah Almighty opens in his heart the sources
of wisdom.

But it is not easy. We are following the way of the mind and that means we
are never given any wisdoms. Yes, the most knowledge that anyone had been
given was given to Satan. No one among all scholars could compete with
Satan; he would be victorious. But nothing of wisdoms does he have.

If he had only minimum wisdom, he would have been the first to make sajdah,
prostration, to Adam, respecting his Lord's command; before anyone else, he
would have made sajdah when Allah Almighty ordered the angels to make sajdah
to Adam. But he hasn't any wisdom. Therefore he fell and was cast out.

Therefore, we are not in need of knowledge. But I am seeing that each one of
the new Muslim people, here or in America or England or France or Germany,
quickly wants to learn Arabic -- to go to Egypt, to go to Azhar, to go to
Hijaz; even to Pakistan, also, they go to learn. They want to learn Arabic
or to learn Qur'an, to learn Hadith, to be scholars.

Yes, we know that there is a hadith from the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi
wa sallim, saying, "Talaba-l-'ilma faridatun 'ala kulli Muslim wa
Muslimah-Allah makes it obligatory on every believer, man or woman, to
acquire knowledge, 'ilm. But what are its limits? Because for everything
there is a secret desire, shahwat al-khafiyah; for everyone, there are
secret desires of their egos which make people to be on false ways, to think
that Islam is only something to KNOW, and a person begins on the way of
seeking knowledge -- more, more, more, more, more, more knowledge, running,
running, running, and it is impossible to find an end for knowledge. And he
gets to be tired and finally comes to forget, also, because of so much
taking; then he can't carry it and begins to fall down until, at the end, if
he can keep even Kalimat ash-Shahadah, it is all right. Yes; I am seeing our
Western Muslim brothers and sisters. They are mostly interestedin learning,
learning, learning and knowing, and without knowing where they should stop.

Imam A'dham, the greatest Imam, Abu Hanifah, whose madhab, way, millions of
people follow, was explaining the meaning of that hadith that makes it
obligatory on believers to learn or to know, and he was saying "Afdal
al-'ilm, the most precious knowledge that you may have, is only that which
regarding or which concerns yourself," or, as we can say about what is
against you: to know everything that may be for you, giving you benefit here
and Hereafter, and which thing harms you or gives you trouble here and
punishment here and Hereafter.

Only that is important to know. It doesn't mean that you are going to learn
all the Holy Qur'an and all the hadiths of the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi
wa sallim, and all the books that are written or every kind of knowledge
that Islam brought; it doesn't have such a meaning. But Western people have
a deep desire to read, to learn, and they are not changing this
characteristic of theirs. Therefore, when they become Muslims -- like our
brother here; he is asking for a teacher to teach him Arabic and then the
meanings of the Holy Qur'an, the meanings of hadith, and it is going to be
heavy burden on him. And I am saying to him: "Stop; no need. Only what you
may meet with during your life, you must learn and you must practice."

That is important: to know or to learn in order to practice! Not simply to
know, to possess knowledge -- no! We are in need of more knowledge only to
practice it and to use it in our fight with our egos. You are acquiring
knowledge in order to reach wisdoms, because without wisdoms it is
impossible to stop your ego's attacking and fighting you.

Wisdoms are like atomic bombs on your ego, but other knowledges are only
simple weapons and in our time they are not going to work; simple weapons
are nothing now. As the last days approach, the weapons of devils, the
weapons of Satan, are improving, also, to take people away from faith and
beliefs. But,as Satan is improving in his attacks and the methods that he
uses to make people beliefless and without faith, so Awliya are using
wisdoms to defeat Satan and his assistants and helpers.

Therefore, this is from those tricks, satanic tricks. If Satan is not able
to prevent someone from coming into Islam or from believing, then he uses
another method, to make him to be tired. When a person is tired, finished;
no more can he follow the way or the rules of Islam. And Satan uses his new
methods on new believers, saying: "Oh, now you are Muslim, you must keep all
the rules. Otherwise it is impossible; you are not Muslim!"

Five times a day prayer? One time is enough for you as a new Muslim, and
Allah Almighty accepts even only one sajdah a day. So many Muslims do not
make even that one sajdah a day, although they are Muslims; they do not say
that they are kafir, unbeliever -- no, they are Muslims. I can show you here
in London Turks who are Muslims; they are not making even one sajdah each
day. Then why are you saying "five times" for new Muslims? Five time
worshipping is perfection. You may say, "It is enough for you to make one
sajdah daily."

He wasn't doing *anything* before but now you are saying, "No. You must
learn the Holy Qur'an, all of it, and you must pray five times, and you must
fast all of Ramadan, and you must be ready to go to Hajj." That is
completion, that is the height, but he must reach that completion step by
step. But quickly Satan comes, saying, "No -- you are not Muslim if you
don't do it all!"; and Satan has representatives, also, among people to
bring down their beliefs or to destroy them.

Therefore, Allah Almighty, in His divine wisdom, at first ordered the
Sahabah to pray only two rak'ats in the morning, and then came two rak'ats
also at Maghrib, sunset time. Then, years later, came the order for five
times.

We can use the same way, using wisdoms, and we can say to people: "If the
Sahabah, the Companions of Muhammad, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallim, could
pray only two rak'ats in the beginning, what is wrong if we say for new
Muslims, 'Make one sajdah each day; enough'?" We are using that wisdom in
that way, and then when I am coming the following year, I am seeing those
people praying all the prayers. I did not say to them to pray five times but
THEY are saying, "We can do it now!" I advised them only to pray two
rak'ats, but they are happy now with five times; *THEY* are asking for more.

Therefore, we are in need of wisdoms, and wisdoms are coming through your
heart. And you may keep forty days. I am not saying to keep forty days and
each day for twenty-four hours to be occupied with worship, no; but I may
say to you: Only once a day you may do a worship, at midnight or before Fajr
time, before dawn, so that no one is with you except your Lord. If you can't
take a shower, ghusl, you may do wudu. Then you may pray two rak'ats
standing facing qiblah, and you are saying, no one is in existence except
You, and I am nothing. And I am with You and You are with me." Nothing to
say.

Do it, repeat it, for forty nights. Then wisdoms will open little bit in
your heart. Through wisdom comes a light which makes clear this darkness in
your world, and you may find a way to go on.

That is for forty days, the easiest method. It may be for five minutes;
enough for you, but if you continue with that for forty days, you should
find a big benefit. You should find yourself closer to your Lord and that is
important: to feel that you are closer to your Lord.

--Taken from Book 3 of "Toward the Divine Presence"
Ramadan-Shawwal, 1406/1986